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Frederic  T.  Greenhalge. 

Governor,  1894  — 


THE    OLD    REPRESENTATIVES'    HALL, 

1798-1895. 


AN    ADDRESS 


DELIVERED    BEFORE    THE 


Massachusetts  House  of  Eepeesentatiyes, 

January  2,   1895, 


Alfred  Seelye  Roe 

OP 

WORCESTER. 


BOSTON  : 

WRIGHT  AND   POTTER   PRINTING   CO.,   STATE   PRINTERS, 

18  Post  Office  Square. 

1895. 


F73 

-8 
£8^7 


•      •  • 


•  •  • 


[From  the  Journal  of  the  House.] 

January  2,  1895. 

Mr.  Roe  of  Worcester  offered  the  following  order  :  — 

Ordered,  That  when  the  House  adjourns  to-day  it  be  to  meet 
to-morrow  at  11  o'clock  a.m.,  in  the  chamber  set  apart  for  the 
House  of  Representatives  in  the  State  House  Extension,  and 
that  hereafter  that  be  the  place  of  meeting. 

After  remarks  by  Mr.  Roe,  the  order  was  adopted,  and, 
on  motion  of  Mr.  Grover  of  Canton,  the  thanks  of  the 
House  were  extended  to  Mr.  Roe  for  his  address,  and  the 
remarks  were  ordered  to  be  printed  and  suitably  bound 
as  a  House  document. 


M106550 


I 

<    £ 

X  I 


ADDRESS. 


Mr.  Speaker  and  Gentlemen  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  :  —  "While  a  new 
chamber,  resplendent  with  gilt  and  marble,  awaits 
us,  a  place  adorned  by  all  that  fancy  could  depict 
and  art  apply,  yet  it  must  witness  the  passing  of 
a  century  ere  it  gathers  the  interest  that  attaches 
to  this  hall  which  we  are  about  to  leave.  And 
now,  when  our  departure  is  at  hand,  it  would 
seem  that  the  event  merited  more  than  the  mere 
gathering  up  of  our  effects  and  our  going  hence. 
Accordingly,  from  word  of  mouth,  from  books 
and  from  tradition,  I  have  collected  data  and 
incident  which,  in  this  parting  hour,  I  submit  for 
your  consideration  and  as  a  final  tribute  to  this 
place,  replete  with  the  memories  of  a  hundred 
years. 

Ninety-seven  years  ago  one  week  from  next 
Friday,  or  on  Thursday,  the  eleventh  day  of 
January,  1798,  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts 
assembled  for  the  last  time  in  the  old  capitol  on 


THE  OLD  REPRESENTATIVES'  HALL. 


State  Street.  Agreeably  to  a  vote,  taken  early  in 
that  day,  the  members  were  to  march  at  noon  to 
the  new  edifice  then  completed  on  Beacon  Hill. 
The  structure  that  they  were  leaving  had  stood 
just  fifty  years  from  its  reconstruction,  following 
the  fire  of  1747.  The  one  which  they  were  about 
to  occupy  was  to  see  nearly  twice  that  term  of 
service.  Had  the  artist  of  the  day  depicted  the 
scene  as  those  worthies,  who  constituted  the  ex- 
ecutive department  and  General  Court  of  the 
Commonwealth,  filed  out  for  their  memorable 
march,  he  would  have  drawn  first  the  dignified 
figure  of  Increase  Sumner,  and  by  his  side  that 
of  Moses  Gill,  respectively  Governor  and  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor. Near  them  were  the  other 
executive  officers  with  the  Council,  and  follow- 
ing were  the  Senators,  led  by  President  Samuel 
Phillips,  and  the  Representatives,  at  whose  head 
was  Edward  Hutchinson  Bobbins  of  Milton.  A 
large  share  of  these  men  had  seen  service  during 
the  war  of  the  Revolution,  which  was  still  a  com- 
paratively recent  event.  As  the  season  was  that 
of  winter,  we  may  conclude  that  these  gentlemen 
took  the  most  direct  route  to  the  new  edifice;  and, 
this  being  the  case,  they  must  have  walked  along 


Increase  Sumner. 

Born  Nov.   27,   1746 ;   died  June  7,   1799. 
Governor,  1797  —  June  7,  1799. 


ADDRESS  BY  ALFRED   S.  ROE. 


what  is  now  "Washington  Street  to  School,  and 
thence  up  that,  across  Tremont  to  Beacon,  and  so 
to  their  destination.  ■  In  this  journey  they  passed 
few  structures  standing  to-day.  Before  reaching 
the  old  corner  book  store,  then,  as  now,  on  School 
and  Washington,  there  were  possibly  two  build- 
ings still  in  existence;  one  adjoining  the  book 
store  (277  and  279  Washington),  the  other 
farther  north,  and  at  present  undergoing  certain 
repairs  (235  Washington).  On  School  Street, 
three  ancient  buildings  (Kos.  5,  7  and  11),  just 
west  of  the  store,  are  apparently  nearly  as  old  as 
the  latter.  Of  the  Province  House,  which  stood 
farther  south,  there  is  now  only  a  small  part  of 
its  rear  wall  (11  and  13  Province  Court),  but, 
meagre  as  it  is,  often  sought  by  him  who  reveres 
the  past.  King's  Chapel  is,  as  it  was,  a  silent 
witness  of  the  mutations  of  more  than  a  century. 
Whatever  there  may  have  been  in  the  way  of 
buildings  for  the  remainder  of  the  journey,  cer- 
tainly nothing  continues  in  our  day.  But  then, 
as  they  neared  the  front  of,  at  that  time,  the  most 
pretentious  capitol  in  America,  they  could  see 
plainly,  for  it  was  close  at  hand,  the  Hancock 
mansion,    and,    remembering     how    dear   to    the 


8  THE  OLD  REPRESENTATIVES'  HALL. 

Continental  president  had  been  the  project  of 
a  State  House  near  his  dwelling,  we  may  imag- 
ine many  a  sturdy  Representative  nudging  his 
neighbor,  as  they  turned  to  enter  the  edifice,  and 
remarking,  "  If  the  old  governor  had  only  lived 
to  see  this  day  !  "  They  had  just  passed  the  last 
resting  place  of  the  patriot  and  statesman  in  the 
Granary  burying  ground,  where  to-day,  after 
more  than  a  hundred  years,  his  grave  has  no 
adequate  memorial.1  We  can  fancy  the  long  line 
of  men  filing  rapidly  through  Doric  Hall  and  up 
the  stairways  to  this  chamber,  and  occupying,  for 
the  first  time,  the  seats .  prepared  for  their  recep- 
tion. It  was  the  winter  session  of  the  Legislat- 
ure of  1797-1798.  Speaker  Pobbins  must  have 
held  the  gavel,  unless  he  passed  it  over  to 
President  Phillips.2  Be  this  as  it  may,  there 
is  no  doubt  that  Gov.  Increase  Sumner,  on  the 
succeeding  day,  addressed  the  assembled  bodies 
in  the  following  words  :  — 

1  The  Legislature  of  1894  appropriated  $3,000  for  the  purpose  of  marking 
this  grave,  and  proposals  for  designs  have  been  solicited. 

2  Samuel  Phillips,  born  in  North  Andover,  Feb.  7,  1751 ;  died  there,  Feb. 
10,  1802;  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  Commonwealth  at  the  time.  Twenty 
years  a  State  senator  and  for  fifteen  years  president  of  the  Senate,  said  years 
consecutive  (1782-1801),  except  the  single  year's  presidency,  in  1787-88,  of 
Samuel  Adams. 


ADDRESS  BY  ALFRED   S.  ROE. 


Gentlemen  of  the  Senate  and  Gentle- 
men of  the  House  of  Representatives  :  — 
While  I  rejoice  with  you,  and  my  fellow  citizens 
at  large,  on  the  completion  of  this  stately  edifice, 
not  less  honorable  to  the  Commonwealth,  at  whose 
expense  it  was  erected,  than  ornamental  to  the 
capital  which  generously  provided  the  place,  per- 
mit me  to  express  my  entire  satisfaction  at  the 
ingenious  manner  in  which  the  plan  has  been 
executed.  Begun  and  finished  in  little  more  than 
two  years,  it  exhibits  a  pleasing  proof  of  the 
architecture,  skill  and  fidelity  of  your  agents  who 
planned  and  superintended  the  work,  while  it 
demonstrates  the  ability  of  the  artificers  who 
performed  it. 

Combining  the  advantages  of  suitable  retire- 
ment, a  healthy  situation  and  delightful  prospect 
with  such  elegant  and  very  convenient  apartments 
for  the  security  of  the  records  and  for  transacting 
the  public  business,  there  is  perhaps  no  public 
building  to  be  found  within  the  United  States 
more  useful  or  magnificent.  I  am  confident  that 
you,  gentlemen  of  both  Houses  of  the  Legislature, 
will  cordially  join  me  in  the  fervent  wish  that  this 
State  House  may  long  remain  a  monument  of  the 
public  spirit  of  the  citizens  of  Massachusetts,  as 
well  as  a  testimony  of  their  respect  to  our  happy 
political  institutions.  We  will  then,  under  the 
smiles  of  Heaven,  unite  in  dedicating  it  to  the 
honor,  freedom,  independence  and  security  of 
our  country.  In  this  House  may  the  true  prin- 
ciples of  the  best  system  of  civil  government  the 


10  THE   OLD  REPRESENTATIVES'  HALL. 

world  has  ever  seen  be  uniformly  supported;  here 
may  every  practice  and  principle  be  successfully 
opposed  that  tend  to  impair  it;  here  may  every 
act  of  the  Legislature  be  the  result  of  cool  delib- 
eration and  sound  judgment;  and  in  this  House, 
on  all  necessary  occasions,  may  the  Supreme 
Executive,  agreeably  to  the  laws  of  the  land,  in 
mercy  cause  judgment  to  be  executed,  and  each 
branch  of  our  elective  government  continue  faith- 
ful in  the  discharge  of  its  trust.  God  grant  that 
neither  external  force  or  influence,  nor  internal 
commotion  or  violence,  may  ever  shake  the  pillars 
of  our  free  Republic. 

The  men  thus  addressed  would  have  been  note- 
worthy anywhere,  but  to  us  they  have  a  pecul- 
iar interest  as  our  predecessors,  nearly  a  hundred 
years  away.  They  were  only  seventeen  years 
from  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  war.  Among 
a  people  that  had  sent  into  the  struggle  more  than 
92,000  men  it  would  not  be  strange  if  a  large  per- 
centage of  the  men  before  us  had  borne  arms  in 
that  immortal  strife.1  It  is  certain  that  very  few 
of  those  whose  names  have  been  borne  on  the 
wings  of  fame  had  no  part  in  that  conflict.  "While 
some  of  the  leading  officers  may  not  have  carried 

1  Reference  to  the  revolutionary  archives  discloses  that  at  least  ninety-one  of 
these  Representatives  had  seen  service  during  the  struggle  for  liberty.  Many  of 
them  had  served  throughout  the  war,  attaining,  in  many  cases,  high  rank. 


Moses  Gill. 

Born  Jan.  18,  1733;  died  May  20,  1800. 
Lieutenant-Governor,  1794  —  May  20,  1800. 


ADDRESS  BY  ALFRED   S.  ROE.  11 

muskets,  yet  in  some  way  they  had  periled  life 
and  reputation  for  what  they  deemed  the  right. 
There  were  one  hundred  and  eighty-nine  members 
of  the  House,  and  they  came  from  all  parts  of  the 
Commonwealth,  including  the  district  of  Maine. 
The  town  of  Lincoln  sends  her  honored  son,  Capt. 
Samuel  Hoar,  the  grandfather  of  our  United 
States  Senator,  Geo.  F.  Hoar,  himself  a  man  who 
could  tell  the  story  of  fighting  for  fatherland.  He 
had  been  one  of  the  party  that  conducted  to  the 
seaboard  the  British  officers  and  men  captured  at 
Saratoga.  Here,  too,  is  Richard  Devens,  whose 
blood  three  generations  afterwards  was  to  appear 
in  the  person  of  Charles  Devens,  soldier  and 
jurist;  and  the  great-grandfather  is  a  soldier  also 
—  one  of  the  men  sent  by  Charlestown.  Among 
the  Boston  members  is  Dr.  William  Eustis,  who 
throughout  the  war  had  done  efficient  service  as  a 
surgeon,  and  who,  a  few  years  afterwards,  was  to 
be  governor  of  the  State.  "Worcester  sends  down 
Levi  Lincoln,  Sr.,  for  many  years  an  invaluable 
holder  of  State  and  national  office,  lieutenant-gov- 
ernor in  1807-1809  and  again  in  1823-1824.  He 
had  responded  as  a  minute  man.  And  there  was 
Caleb   Strong  from  Northampton,  a  man  for  the 


12  THE  OLD  REPRESENTATIVES'  HALL. 

times,  bearing  in  his  nature  all  the  qualities  indi- 
cated in  his  name,  the  man  who  later  had  the 
hardihood  to  oppose  the  war  of  1812,  not  because 
he  was  afraid  to  fight,  for  he  knew  the  whole 
story  of  the  Revolution.  He  had  been  Senator  in 
the  national  capital,  and  was  to  be  the  very  next 
governor,  in  which  capacity  he  had  the  bravery  to 
overlook  the  beruffled  gentry  of  the  existing  ju- 
diciary, and  to  make  Theophilus  Parsons  chief 
justice  of  the  supreme  court,  an  act  for  which  sub- 
sequent generations  cannot  be  grateful  enough. 
As  a  study  of  heredity  it  is  interesting  to  com- 
pare the  names  of  these  Representatives  of  a 
century  since  with  those  of  the  men  last  elected 
to  this  body,  and  I  find  no  less  than  thirty-eight 
coincidences.  I  cannot  state  that  the  members  of 
to-day  are  descended  from  the  good  men  of  1798, 
but  the  surnames  continue.  Going  through  the 
list,  I  find  Barnes  (2),  Bates,  Bliss,  Brown  (2), 
Clark,  Drew,  Drury,  Holland,  Holt,  Howe,  Hutch- 
inson, Kingman,  Mellen  (2)  (this  name  suggests 
the  frequent  remark  that  he,  by  common  consent 
ycleped  "Jim,"1  has  been  in  the  House  so  long 
that  the  memory  of  man  runneth  not  to  the  con- 

1  James  H.  Mellen,  Worcester,  thirteen  times  elected  to  the  House. 


ADDRESS  BY  ALFRED   S.  ROE.  13 

trary.  Confirmation  of  this  statement  is  found  in 
the  appearance  of  his  name  in  1798,  though  in 
those  days  they  called  him  James,  and  he  lived 
in  Holliston),  Mitchell,  Norton,  Parker,  Perkins, 
Phelps,  Putnam,  Eice,  Eichardson,  Eowe,1  Eus- 
sell,  Sargent,  Smith  (2),  Snow,  Stone,  Strong, 
Thacher,  Thurston,  Turner,  "White  (2),  and 
Wood.  One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  House,  thus 
assembled,  was  to  vote  the  front  seats  to  the 
Boston  members,  —  a  distinction  of  which  the 
successors  of  those  same  members  have  always 
thought  themselves  worthy  though  they  have  not 
in  every  case  secured  what  they  wished.  Very 
likely  this  courtesy  was  extended  on  account  of 
the  gift  by  Boston  of  the  site  of  the  State  House. 
Owing  to  the  season  of  the  year,  it  will  not 
seem  especially  strange  that  on  the  first  day  (Jan- 
uary 10),  in  the  old  State  House,  it  was  voted 
to  expend  $150  for  the  purchase  of  fuel.  The 
fireplaces    of  those    days,  though  healthful,  were 

1  By  members  of  the  same  family  this  name  is  spelled  both  with  and  without 
the  w.  John  Rowe  of  Gloucester  is  here  referred  to.  He  was  for  nine  years  a 
member  of  the  House  from  that  place,  and  one  year  from  Essex  County  in  the 
Senate.  He  later  removed  to  Milton,  where  he  had  inherited  at  least  a  portion 
of  the  property  of  his  uncle,  that  John  Rowe  of  Boston  at  whose  instance  in  1784 
the  figure  of  the  codfish  was  suspended  in  the  Representatives'  Chamber  of  the 
Old  State  House. 


14  THE   OLD  REPRESENTATIVES'  HALL. 

fearfully  voracious.  But  the  chamber  now  first 
occupied  had  a  somewhat  different  appearance 
from  that  which  we  know.  There  were  no  north 
and  south  galleries,  and  no  addition  on  the  north 
side;  so  those  gentlemen,  as  they  took  their  seats, 
had  a  clear  outlook  through  the  north  windows  to 
Bunker  Hill,  whose  history  they  knew  by  heart, 
and  doubtless  many  a  man  could  have  told  of 
Putnam  and  Prescott  and  the  events  of  that  im- 
mortal 17th  of  June.  There  was  really  no  reason 
why  they  should  not  look  away  to  Bunker  Hill, 
for  there  were  very  few  buildings  to  shut  out  the 
view.  Towards  the  west,  and  close  at  hand,  they 
must  have  noted  the  column  on  the  highest  part 
of  Beacon  Hill,  which  was  not  only  a  tribute  to 
the  talent  and  patriotism  of  Bulfinch  the  con- 
structor, 1  but  a  fitting  memorial  to  the  heroism  of 
the  men  of  the  Revolution,  of  whom  they  were  a 
portion,  and  towards  the  history,  written  on  the 
tower's  tablets,  they  had  contributed  no  inconsid- 
erable part.  It  was,  too,  the  very  hill  on  which 
had   stood   the   beacon   for   a   hundred   and  fifty 

i  On  his  return  from  Europe,  in  1786,  Mr.  Bulfinch,  impressed  with  the 
desirableness  of  some  memorial  of  Revolutionary  valor  and  sacrifices,  solicited 
the  funds  for  this  monument,  which  he  designed,  and  whose  construction  in  1790 
he  superintended.    It  was  taken  down  in  1811. 


ccjrfe^'*''**^  y^^tZ^T" 


Born  Aug.  8,  1763;  died  April  15,  1844. 
Architect.     Member  of  Building  Commission. 


ADDRESS  BY  ALFRED  S.  ROE.  15 

years,  ever  a  hateful  sight  to  tyrants.  The  figure 
of  the  eagle,  which,  since  1850,  has  hung  over 
the  Speaker's  head,  then  surmounted  Bulfinch's 
tower,  and  the  tablets  on  the  walls  of  the  corri- 
dor south  of  Doric  Hall  were  attached  to  its  base. 
After  the  manner  of  their  British  ancestors,  these 
men  sat  with  covered  heads,  a  custom  that  pre- 
vailed till  well  along  into  the  thirties.1 

In  those  days  there  was  little  dallying  over 
what  might  be  considered  liberty  of  thought,  for 
every  man  had  been  obliged  to  subscribe  to  the 
following  oath:  "I,  A.  B,  do  declare  that  I 
believe  the  Christian  religion  and  have  firm  per- 
suasion of  its  truth."  The  fact,  too,  that  he 
was  there,  was  evidence  that  he  was  possessed 
of  a  freehold  yielding  an  annual  income  of  three 
pounds,  or  was  possessed  of  property  to  the  value 
of  fifty  pounds.  In  addition  to  the  foregoing 
oath,  all  had  to  renounce  all  allegiance  to  the  king 
or   queen   of  Great   Britain   and   to   every  other 

1  Jan.  6,  1838,  George  W.  Warren  of  Charlestown  introduced  an  order 
instructing  the  committee  on  Rules  to  inquire  into  the  expediency  of  requir- 
ing members  to  sit  with  uncovered  heads.  The  order  was  negatived,  but  its 
introduction  indicates  the  trend  of  custom.  Hats  gradually  disappeared  dur- 
ing the  sittings,  though  the  Hon.  John  I.  Baker  says  many  members  wore 
them  in  1840,  possibly  out  of  sympathy  with  the  Friends  or  Quaker  members, 
who  carried  into  the  Legislature  the  habits  of  their  daily  lives. 


16  THE  OLD  REPRESENTATIVES'  HALL. 

foreign  power  whatever  :  "  And  that  no  foreign 
prince,  person,  prelate,  state  or  potentate  hath  or 
ought  to  have  any  jurisdiction,  superiority,  pre- 
eminence, authority,  dispensing  or  other  power  in 
any  matter,  civil,  ecclesiastical  or  spiritual,  within 
this  Commonwealth,  except  the  power  which  is  or 
may  be  vested  by  their  Constitution  in  the  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States.  And  I  do  further  tes- 
tify and  declare  that  no  man  or  body  of  men  hath, 
or  can  have,  any  right  to  absolve  or  discharge 
me  from  the  obligation  of  this  oath,  declaration 
or  affirmation,"  etc.  Having  fought  a  good  fight, 
those  people  were  not  disposed  to  put  their  per- 
sons in  chancery,  at  least  of  their  own  volition. 
Several  days  after,  or  the  16th,  the  House  re- 
sponded to  Governor  Sumner's  address,  saying :  — 

May  it  please  your  Excellency :  —  The  House 
of  Representatives  have  received  your  Excellency 
with  great  pleasure  in  the  new  and  elegant  build- 
ing erected  for  the  better  accommodation  of  the 
several  branches  of  government. 

In  this  splendid  specimen  of  the  taste  and  judg- 
ment of  the  agents  who  planned  and  superin- 
tended, and  in  the  ability  of  the  artificers  who 
completed  its  structure,  we  are  happy  to  find  the 
public  confidence  completely  justified.  Long  may 
it   continue   an   ornament    to   the   capital,   whose 


ADDRESS  BY  ALFRED  S.  ROE.  17 

inhabitants  generously  gave  the  situation  on 
which  it  is  erected,  and  a  monument  of  the  pub- 
lic spirit  of  the  people  of  Massachusetts,  sacred 
to  the  purposes  to  which  it  has  been  devoted. 

Thus  was  inaugurated  the  ninety-seven  years' 
occupancy  of  this  hall.  The  story  of  this  period, 
told  in  full,  fills  whole  alcoves  of  the  State  library. 
In  brief,  we  have  the  resultant  in  the  volume  of 
statutes.  More  than  sixteen  thousand  different 
men  have  here  acted  their  parts,  long  or  short. 
Of  course  the  large  majority  came  for  a  year  only, 
and  thereafter  dated  all  events  from  the  year  "  I 
was  in  the  House."  "While  affairs  were  directed 
by  the  few,  it  was  ever  a  laudable  ambition  to  hold 
a  seat  in  this  chamber.  The  Legislature  of  Mas- 
sachusetts is  the  oldest  continuous  legislative 
body  in  America,  and  certainly  no  other  one  holds 
a  higher  rank  in  attainments  and  general  worth. 
"  The  member  from  Cranberry  Centre  "  has  long 
been  the  butt  of  wit  and  satire;  but  take  him  for 
all  in  all,  he  is  a  type  of  whom  the  world  may  well 
be  proud.  Here  were  begun  the  careers  that  led 
through  the  highest  honors  in  the  gift  of  the  State 
and  nation.  This  space  is  an  arena  in  which 
many   a  gladiator  has  given  proof  of  his  metal. 


18  THE   OLD  REPRESENTATIVES'  HALL. 

Through  this  chamber  passed  every  Governor 
after  1798,  save  nine.  Of  these,  two  had  been 
members  of  the  Senate,  and  two,  Morton .  and 
Emory  Washburn,  came  hither  long  after  they 
had  doffed  the  robes  of  executive  office,  the  latter 
appearing  in  his  old  age  to  be  the  dean  of  the 
House  and  to  die  while  a  member.  So  then, 
of  the  whole  thirty-one  individuals  holding  the 
highest  office  in  the  State,  only  John  Davis, 
Edward  Everett,  George  N*.  Briggs,  Alexander 
H.  Rice  and  "William  E.  Russell  gained  their 
places  save  through  some  service  in  the  Legis- 
lature. With  our  lieutenant-governors  the  case 
is  similar.  There  have  been  thirty-two  of  these 
officers,  and  only  Elisha  Huntington  and  John 
Nesmith  failed  to  see  some  time  in  one  or  both 
of  the  branches  of  the  Legislature.  Five,  viz., 
Phillips,  Goodrich,  Weston,  Ames  and  Haile, 
were  in  the  Senate  only,  while  Plunkett,  Brown 
and  Trask  came  back  after  their  higher  honors 
to  wrestle  here.  Since  1798  thirty-two  men  have 
been  United  States  Senators  from  this  State,  and 
of  these  only  Pickering,  Davis,  Everett  and  Sum- 
ner were  in  neither  body;  John  Quincy  Adams, 
Prentiss  Mellen   and  Samuel  Dexter  were  in  the 


Roger  Wolcott. 

Lieutenant-Governor,  1893  — 


ADDRESS  BY  ALFRED  S.  ROE.  19 

Senate;  the  other  twenty-six  were,  more  or  less, 
in  the  House  and  in  the  Senate  also.  The  same 
rule  applies  to  the  Representatives  in  Congress 
from  Massachusetts.  Of  the  present  thirteen 
members,  only  Wright,  Apsley,  Everett,  Draper 
and  Randall  have  not  been  in  the  House;  the 
latter  has  served  in  the  Senate.  The  importance 
of  a  position  here  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact 
that  in  former  times  it  was  not  unusual  for  the 
same  man  to  be  nominated  and  elected  to  both 
bodies,  in  which  case  he  had  his  choice  of  places. 
So  experienced  and  wily  a  manager  and  statesman 
as  Elbridge  Gerry  never  failed  to  choose  the  nom- 
inally lower  House,  seeing  in  it  a  broader  field  for 
talent  and  energy.  How  others,  outside  of  our 
numbers,  have  regarded  this  body  we  may  learn  in 
part  from  the  language  of  that  long-time  clerk  of 
the  Senate,  Stephen  !N".  Gifford,  when  his  friends 
were  giving  him  his  famous  complimentary  dinner 
in  1882:  "  Who  has  made  Massachusetts  the  best 
Commonwealth  on  the  face  of  God's  earth  but  the 
Legislature  of  Massachusetts."  That  most  courtly 
of  gentlemen  and  affable  of  officers,  Sergeant-at- 
Arms  Benjamin  Stevens,  once  became  as  near 
being  excited  as  he  was  ever  known  to  be  over  an 


20  THE   OLD  REPRESENTATIVES'  HALL. 

indication  that  a  certain  governor  was  endeavor- 
ing to  influence  legislation.  Raising  his  hands  in 
deprecation,  he  exclaimed,  "  The  idea  of  any  gov- 
ernor attempting  to  influence  the  highest  power  in 
the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts !  " 

For  many  years,  or  till  1858,  the  numbers  con- 
stituting this  body  were  variable.  From  1780 
to  1837,  the  basis  of  representation  was  as 
follows:  Every  corporate  town  having  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  ratable  polls  was  entitled  to  one 
Representative;  those  having  three  hundred  and 
seventy-five  could  have  two  Representatives,  six 
hundred  ratable  polls  could  have  three,  and  so  on, 
one  additional  Representative  for  every  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  additional  qualified  voters, 
provided  that  every  town,  then  incorporated, 
though  it  might  not  have  the  requisite  number 
of  polls,  should  not  be  deprived  of  representation, 
but  no  town  could  thereafter  be  incorporated 
with  less  than  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  qualified 
voters  with  the  privilege  of  representation.  The 
General  Court  had  power  to  fine  a  town  if  it 
failed  to  avail  itself  of  this  electoral  privilege. 
The  system  that  went  into  operation  in  1837  was, 
if  possible,  more  cumbersome  than  that  which  it 


■     :..... 


Benjamin  Stevens. 

Born  April  16,  1790;  died  Feb.  II,  1865. 
Sergeant-at-Arms,  1835  — 1859. 


ADDRESS   BY  ALFRED   S.   ROE. 


21 


displaced.  Three  hundred  ratable  polls  became 
the  basis  for  one  Kepresentative ;  any  city  or 
town  having  four  hundred  and  fifty  additional 
voters  could  have  an  additional  Representative. 
Where  the  town  had  less  than  the  requisite  three 
hundred,  the  number  of  polls  at  the  last  preceding 
decennial  census  was  multiplied  by  ten  and  the 
product  divided  by  three  hundred,  and  the  quo- 
tient indicated  the  number  of  times  within  ten 
years  that  the  town  might  elect  one  Representa- 
tive. The  same  plan  prevailed  with  the  excess 
above  the  required  number  in  cities  and  towns 
already  entitled  to  one  Representative,  with  this 
difference,  that  here  the  product  of  excess  multi- 
plied by  ten  was  to  be  divided  by  four  hundred 
and  fifty.  The  result,  to  the  Solons  who  devised 
this  scheme,  must  have  been  surprising,  for  they 
had  set  out  to  reduce  the  numbers  of  their  House, 
in  1837,  consisting  of  six  hundred  and  thirty-five 
members.  It  had  been  evident  that  something 
must  be  done,  for  a  House  so  numerous,  became, 
surely,  too  popular  a  branch.  The  next  year, 
under  the  new  rule,  the  number  dropped  to  four 
hundred  and  eighty,  but  in  1839  and  1840  it  went 
up  to  five  hundred  and  twenty-one.     Accordingly 


22  THE   OLD  REPRESENTATIVES'  HALL. 

a  new  plan  was  again  devised,  and  now  the  basis 
of  representation  is  to  be  twelve  hundred  inhabi- 
tants, quite  a  step  upward,  and  twenty-four  hun- 
dred is  the  mean  advancing  number  to  increase 
the  representation.  Where  there  are  less  than 
twelve  hundred  people  the  town  may  elect  one 
Representative  as  many  times  in  every  ten  years 
as  one  hundred  and  sixty  is  contained  times  in  the 
number  of  inhabitants,  and  such  towns  may  elect  a 
Representative  for  the  year  in  which  the  valuation 
of  estates  within  the  Commonwealth  is  settled. 
At  this  time  comes  the  beginning  of  the  forma- 
tion of  legislative  districts  from  adjoining  towns, 
with  all  the  privileges  with  reference  to  repre- 
sentation accorded  to  a  town  having  the  same 
number  of  inhabitants.  To  provide  for  the  inevi- 
table increase  of  inhabitants,  it  was  further  or- 
dained that  whenever  the  population  of  the  State 
should  reach  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand, 
the  number  that  should  entitle  a  town  to  a  Rep- 
resentative, the  mean  increasing  number  which 
should  entitle  a  town  to  more  than  one,  and  also 
the  number  by  which  the  representation  of  towns 
not  entitled  to  a  Representative  every  year  is  to 
be  divided  shall  be  increased,  respectively,  by  one- 


mmmmmmmmfm.: 

George  v.  L.   Meyer. 

Speaker,  1894  — 


22 

a  i)  rain  devised,  a 

ion  is  to  be  twelvi 
>  upward,  and 
d  is  the  menu   advancing  mr 
the   representation.     "Where   there    are   lea 
twelve  hundred  people  the   town   may  elect   one 
Representative  as  many  tim<  n  years 

as  one  hundred  and  sixty  is  c  imes  in  the 

number  sbitaiits,  and  su  elect  a 

Re]  q  which 

k>mmon  wealth  led. 

ma- 
il all  the   ] 
sentation   accorded   to  a   town 
number  of  inhabitants.     To  provide  for  the  inevi- 
table increase  of  inhabitants,  it  was  further  or- 
dained that  whenever  the  popuh 
should  en   hun<;  md, 

the  number  that  should  i 

resentative,   the   mean    in  ng   number    which 

should  entitle  a  town  to  mo?  le,  and  also 

the  number  by  which  tin  sentation  of  towns 

not  entitled  to  a  Representative  every  to 

be  divided  shall  be  increased,  respectively,  by  one- 


George  v.   L.   Meyer. 

Speaker,  1894  — 


ADDRESS  BY  ALFRED  S.  ROE.  23 

tenth  of  the  numbers  above  mentioned.  "When- 
ever seventy  thousand  people  are  added  to  the 
population,  one-tenth  shall  again  be  added,  as 
before.  As  all  the  members  of  the  Governor's 
Council  during  these  years  had  not  had  the  benefit 
of  full  college  courses  in  mathematics,  the  wonder 
constantly  grows  that  at  each  recurring  ten  years 
there  was  not  a  marked  addition  to  the  inmates  in 
the  various  State  lunatic  asylums.  However,  the 
people  worried  along  with  their  variable  numbers 
in  their  popular  branch  till  they  hit  upon  the  only 
feasible  solution  of  their  problem,  viz.,  a  definite, 
constant  number,  which  they  decided  should  be 
two  hundred  and  forty.  This  amendment  went 
into  effect  in  1858,  and  continues  to  date.  The 
property  qualification  went  out  in  the  amendment 
of  1840.  The  peculiar  oaths  prescribed  by  the 
Constitution  ceased  with  the  ratification  of  the 
Constitutional  Convention  of  1820. 

The  fathers  did  not  vote  themselves  magnificent 
salaries.  The  very  first  session  in  this  chamber 
rated  the  services  of  the  public  servants  at  two 
dollars  per  day,  and  by  Constitution  they  were 
entitled  to  mileage,  which  they  rated  at  two  dol- 
lars for  every  ten  miles.     This  compensation  con- 


24  THE   OLD  REPRESENTATIVES'  HALL. 

tinued  for  nearly  or  quite  fifty  years.  Indeed, 
mentioning  this  subject,  our  venerable  friend, 
John  I.  Baker  of  Beverly,  says  that  in  1840,  his 
first  year,  he  boarded  at  the  Pemberton  House  on 
the  site  of  the  present  Howard  Athenaeum,  and, 
though  he  was  in  the  Legislature  when  more 
liberal  salaries  were  allowed,  that  was  the  only 
year  when  he  saw  a  margin  in  his  favor. 

There  were  subsequent  rises,  till  we  come  to 
the  pay  of  to-day,  small  when  compared  with  the 
fifteen  hundred  dollars  paid  by  New  York,  yet 
making,  with  the  two  dollars  per  mile  mileage,  a 
very  large  aggregate.  The  forbidding  of  railroad 
passes  to  officials  of  the  State  was  an  act  of  the 
Legislature  of  1892.1  In  1832  small  clothes  dis- 
appeared, three   members  then  wearing  such  in- 

.  1  Feb.  28,  1851,  it  was  voted  to  permit  the  drawing  of  the  sum  of  $50  per 
month,  provided  the  pay  due  amounted  to  that  sum.  Feb.  1,  1855,  the  pay  was 
raised  to  $3  per  day,  and  the  possible  monthly  drawing  was  made  $75.  Jan.  30, 
1858,  annual  compensation  was  placed  at  $300.  The  mileage  of  $1  for  every  five 
miles  was  payable  the  first  day  of  the  session ;  on  the  first  day  of  each  month 
thereafter  members  could  draw  $2  per  day,  and  on  the  final  day  all  arrears 
May  14, 1864,  the  legislators  voted  themselves  an  additional  $100,  and  passed  the 
act  over  the  governor's  veto.  It  was  for  that  year  only.  June  22,  1870,  compen- 
sation was  set  at  $5  per  day.  April  14,  1871,  pay  was  fixed  at  $750  a  year.  In 
1872  the  drawing  of  $100  per  month  was  permitted.  Feb.  29, 1876,  the  salary 
went  back  to  $650  per  annum.  Feb.  28,  1879,  pay  reduced  to  $500.  Jan.  29, 
1885,  pay  raised  to  $650.  June  30,  1886,  compensation  placed  at  its  present 
figure,  viz.,  $750. 


.   ,  » 


Edward  A.  McLaughlin. 

Clerk,  1883  — 


ADDRESS  BY  ALFRED   S.  ROE.  25 

teguments,  one  of  whom  being  Maj.  Thomas 
Melville  of  Boston  tea  party  fame,  and  who  is 
also  supposed  to  have  been  the  last  American  to 
wear  the  cocked  hat.  Between  small  clothes  and 
the  oldest  living  representative,  or  the  old  and  the 
new,  there  is  no  break. 

Sessions  have  varied  much  in  length,  though 
in  later  years  few  have  gone  under  one  hundred 
and  fifty  days.  The  year  1798  beheld  the  law 
makers  of  Massachusetts  in  this  building  eighty- 
three  days.  There  have  been  shorter  terms,  and 
of  course  many  that  were  longer.  The  longest 
session  was  in  General  Butler's  year,  and  it 
dragged  along  through  two  hundred  and  six 
weary  days.  The  closing  chapter  in  the  book 
of  this  chamber  had  one  hundred  and  eighty 
pages.  We  started  in  to  make  a  record  of 
brevity,  but  our  progress  was  halted,  para- 
doxically, it  would  seem,  by  rapid  transit. 

Few  Massachusetts  people  of  middle  life  have 
not  heard  of  the  wonders  of  'lection  day.  Then 
the  Commonwealth  put  on  her  best  and  saw  the 
Governor  inaugurated.  All  this  was  on  the  last 
Wednesday  in  May.  The  legislative  year  began 
then,  the  members   having   been  elected   in   that 


26  THE  OLD  REPRESENTATIVES'  HALL. 

month,  with  at  least  ten  days  intervening.  The 
summer  session  was,  however,  a  brief  one,  seldom 
lasting  a  month.  In  January  they  came  together 
again  for  their  protracted  stay,  extending  occa- 
sionally well  along  towards  the  dandelion  season. 
"With  the  proverbial  conservatism  of  the  English 
race,  people  who  are  marvels  of  inertia,  whether 
of  motion  or  rest,  still  seen  in  the  retention  of 
town  meeting  in  the  month  of  March  or  April, 
simply  because  the  year  began  in  March  when  the 
earlier  towns  were  formed,  our  State  held  on  to 
the  old  custom  till  1832,  when  it  was  thought  de- 
sirable to  make  the  political  year  conform  to  that 
of  the  calendar.  Gov.  Levi  Lincoln  had  the  priv- 
ilege of  promulgating  the  10th  amendment  in  1831, 
June  15,  and  he  was  the  first  Governor  to  be  in- 
augurated in  the  January  following;  but  for  fifty 
years  there  were  not  wanting  those  who  bewailed 
the  loss  of  'lection  day. 

It  has  been  said  that  of  the  making  of  many 
books  there  is  no  end;  and  of  the  truth  of  the 
statement  there  would  be  no  doubt  were  all  of  us 
to  see  the  mass  of  printed  matter  that,  first  and 
last,  the  Massachusetts  Legislature  has  been  re- 
sponsible for.     And  the  books  that  have  been  pre- 


Nathaniel  P.   Banks,  jr. 

Born  Jan.  30,  1816;  died  Sept.  I,  1894. 
Speaker,  1851  — 1852. 


C  1  I 


ADDRESS  BY  ALFRED  S.  ROE.  27 

served  are  nearly  legion.  Then,  too,  the  volumes 
grow  in  size.  The  first  product  of  laws  from  this 
Capitol  numbered  eighty-one  folio  pages,  the  last, 
that  of  1894,  fills  a  royal  octavo  of  seven  hundred 
and  fifty-six  pages.  The  first  Blue  Book  or  Acts 
and  Resolves  came  in  1839,  bound  in  blue,  doubt- 
less because  the  rules  and  orders  had  been  thus 
colored  for  years. 

In  the  earlier  days  and  even  down  to  a  quite 
recent  period  members  did  not  think  it  necessary 
to  take  a  Saturday  recess.  Jan.  9,  1877,  John  D. 
Washburn  of  Worcester  introduced  an  order,  to 
the  effect  that  when  the  House  adjourn  on  Friday 
it  be  to  meet  on  the  following  Monday  at  two 
o'clock,  until  otherwise  ordered.  Revolutions 
seldom  move  backward,  and  there  have  been 
very  few  Saturday  sessions  since. 

The  legislator  who  to-day  rides  comfortably  a 
hundred  or  more  miles  to  and  from  the  daily  ses- 
sions of  the  General  Court  has  little  notion  of  the 
troubles  of  those  who  came  hither  a  century  since 
or  even  in  much  later  days.  Then  the  country 
member  came  to  stay  till  the  work  was  done,  and 
he  rather  liked  to  labor  Saturdays,  for  it  hastened 
the   day  of  his   return.     The  hills   of  Berkshire 


28  THE  OLD  REPRESENTATIVES'  HALL. 

were  three  days  away,  and  Washington  County, 
Maine,  much  farther.  The  horse  that  he  may 
have  ridden  to  town  was  pining  for  the  rich 
pastures  of  the  home  fields,  and  homesickness 
was  not  an  unknown  complaint  to  the  Solon  him- 
self. It  is  said  that  some  of  these  far-away  Repre- 
sentatives used  to  put  their  steeds  out  to  pasture 
in  the  neighboring  towns,  and  some  even  disputed 
the  grassy  slopes  of  the  Common  with  the  regular 
dwellers  in  Boston.  It  is  an  interesting  item  that, 
when  the  Messenger's  house  at  46  Hancock  Street 
was  built,  provision  was  also  made  for  the  horses 
of  the  members  who  rode  or  drove  in  from  the 
nearer  towns.  There  were  spaces  for  between 
thirty  and  forty  beasts,  and  the  doors  were  opened 
in  the  morning  by  an  employee  of  the  Messenger, 
and  by  him  closed  at  night.  The  Solons  were 
their  own  hostlers,  as  well  as  Jehus.  After  a 
time  the  State  sold  the  land  thus  employed  to 
the  city  of  Boston,  and  it  was  long  covered  by 
the  reservoir.  Later  the  State  bought  it  back, 
and  our  new  Representatives'  Hall  is  not  far 
from  covering  the  land  where  our  predecessors 
groomed  and  fed  their  steeds  with  grain  and  fod- 
der brought  by  them  from  their  respective  homes. 


Jacob  Kuhn. 

Born  Nov.  25,  1763 ;  died  Sept.  22,  1835. 
Messenger,  1786 — 1835. 


ADDRESS  BY  ALFRED   S.  ROE.  29 

There  have  been  but  five  men *  who  as  mes- 
senger or  sergeant-at-arms  have  had  the  care  of 
this  building.  Jacob  Kuhn,  who  came  here  with 
the  first  comers,  was  for  more  than  fifty  years 
connected  with  the  Legislature.  Small  in  stature, 
yet  he  was  the  soul  of  graciousness,  and  was  all 
that  faithfulness  implies.  The  first  sergeant-at- 
arms  was  Benjamin  Stevens.  A  member  of  this 
body,  he  resigned  to  take  the  office,  which  he  held 
for  twenty-five   years.     ~No   one   knew   his   duty 

1  Jacob  Kulin,  to  1835;  Benjamin  Stevens,  Boston,  1835-59;  John  Morissey, 
Plymouth,  1859-74;  Oreb  F.  Mitchell,  Boston,  1874-85;  John  G.  B.  Adams, 
Lynn,  1886-  .  Jacob  Kuhn,  born  Nov.  25,  1763,  in  Boston,  died  there  in  the 
messenger's  house,  on  the  reservoir  site,  Sept.  22,  1835.  His  father  was  John 
George  Kuhn,  born  in  Konigsberg,  East  Prussia,  Aug.  1,  1740,  who  came  to 
America  in  1754,  and  was  for  many  years  a  school-master  in  Boston.  He  died 
Nov.  20,  1822.  Jacob's  grandfather  was  Jacob,  a  native  of  Gochsheim,  Wiir- 
temberg,  who  came  to  this  country  in  1754  and,  with  his  eldest  son,  was  drowned, 
Nov.  28,  1763,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec  River,  at  a  place  since  known  as 
Kuhn's  Point.  In  1781,  Jacob  Kuhn  became  assistant  messenger,  and  in  1786 
was  advanced  to  full  charge,  dying  in  office  in  1835.  Of  him  his  son  said,  "  He 
was  strictly  temperate,  inflexibly  honest,  unbending  in  duty,  kind,  generous, 
pious  and  remarkably  patient  under  trials,  of  which  he  had  a  full  share."  At 
his  death  the  Legislature  voted  to  have  his  funeral  public  in  the  Representatives' 
chamber,  but  the  family  preferring,  it  was  held  privately  at  his  late  home,  with 
deputations  from  the  Senate  and  House  attending.  He  was  buried  in  the  family 
tomb  in  the  old  Common  Burial  Ground. 

Benjamin  Stevens  was  born  in  the  city  of  Boston ;  was  in  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives in  1833,  1834  and  1835 ;  in  the  last  year  he  resigned  to  become  the 
successor  of  Messenger  Jacob  Kuhn,  being  the  first  to  hold  the  office  of  Sergeant- 
at-Arms.  He  was  again  elected  to  the  House  in  1862,  and  in  1863,  during  the 
absence  of  Maj.  John  Morissey,  who  was  serving  a  nine  months'  term  as  major 
of  the  3d  Regiment,  Mr.  Stevens  again  performed  the  duties  of  Sergeant-at- 
Arms.    His  body  lies  in  Mt.  Auburn.    It  was  during  Mr.  Stevens'  term  of  office 


30  THE   OLD  REPRESENTATIVES'  HALL. 

better,  and  no  one  had  a  wider  range  of  friends. 
As  an  illustration  of  his  tact,  the  story  is  told  that 
a  certain  gentleman  of  decayed  fortunes  had  taken 
up  the  habit  of  walking  in  Doric  Hall.  Day  after 
day  he  kept  up  his  peregrinations,  pausing  only  to 
borrow  a  dollar  of  some  impressionable  country- 
man. As  the  dollar  was  never  paid  back,  and  as 
the  purses  of  the  members  were  none  too  long, 
they  complained  to  Mr.  Stevens,  who  in  his  bland- 
est manner  requested  the  walker  to   take  up  his 

that  he  made  Thomas  J.  Tucker  a  State  House  employee.  The  latter,  now  the 
senior  of  all  those  having  the  Capitol  in  charge,  was  born  in  Boston,  Dec.  21, 
1831,  was  graduated  from  the  May  hew  School,  and,  after  a  short  experience  in 
business,  became  a  messenger  here,  Jan.  1, 1856.  He  was  made  assistant  door- 
keeper in  1869,  and  door-keeper  in  1875. 

John  Morissey  was  born  in  Boston,  of  Irish  descent.  He  was  a  printer  by 
trade  and  as  such  worked  in  Nantucket,  whence,  in  1849,  he  was  sent  to  the 
House  and  again  in  1857.  In  1858  he  represented  the  Island  District  in  the 
Senate.  During  the  same  year  he  removed  to  Plymouth,  which  place  was  his 
home,  till  his  death.  Coming  into  office  during  the  administration  of  Governor 
Banks,  he  served,  excepting  a  term  of  active  military  service  as  major  of  the 
3d  Regiment,  till  long  after  the  Civil  War,  during  which  struggle  he  was  of 
especial  value  to  Governor  Andrew.  Returning  to  his  home  at  the  end  of  his 
State  House  career,  he  became  in  1877  treasurer  of  Plymouth  County,  and  as 
such  continued  to  the  time  of  his  death. 

Captain  Mitchell  enlisted  early  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  from  the  town  of 
Middleborough.  As  a  captain  in  the  40th  Regiment  he  lost  an  arm  at  Drury's 
Bluff,  May  16,  1864.    He  is  now  a  resident  of  Boston. 

Captain  Adams  served  throughout  the  war  in  the  19th  Regiment.  He  was 
twice  severely  wounded  at  Gettysburg,  on  the  second  day.  In  1864,  June  22, 
he  was  captured  by  the  enemy  before  Petersburg,  and  was  held  a  prisoner  till 
March  1,  1865.  It  will  be  noted  that  every  Sergeant-at-Arms,  save  the  first,  was 
a  soldier  during  the  Rebellion. 


John  Morissey. 

Sergeant-at-Arms,  1859  —  74. 


ADDRESS  BY  ALFRED  S.  ROE.  31 

line  of  march  in  some  new  direction;  whereupon 
the  reproved  turned  upon  the  officer  and  fiercely 
replied,  "  Move  on !  why,  I  own  a  part  of  this 
building."  "  Sure  enough,  so  you  do,"  said  Mr. 
Stevens,  "  and  when  we  divide  it  you  shall  have 
your  share."  So  effectual  was  the  rejoinder  that 
the  part  owner  disappeared  completely.  Through 
Morissey  and  Mitchell  we  come  to  Captain 
Adams,  and  long  may  he  be  the  last. 

Whether  or  not  service  here  is  conducive  to 
longevity,  it  is  certain  that  some  members  have  at- 
tained very  old  age.  The  senior  surviving  Rep- 
resentative is  Henry  Mills,  now  of  Binghamton, 
N".  Y.,  but  in  his  legislative  days  from  Millbury. 
He  served  in  the  Houses  of  1833-34.  At  last 
accounts  he  was  hale  and  hearty,  and  able  to 
write  a  particularly  vigorous  letter.  Joshua  T. 
Everett  of  Westminster,  though  he  represented 
Princeton  in  this  hall,  survives,  at  eighty-eight 
years,  a  fellow  legislator  with  Mr.  Mills  in  1834. 
Few  of  the  men  here  to-day  step  off  more  nimbly 
than  does  this  Worcester  County  nonogenarian, 
who,  in  November  last,  told  me  that  on  the  next 
morning  he  expected  to  walk  over  to  his  old  home 
in  Princeton,   nearly   six   miles   distant.      Of   all 


32  THE  OLD  REPRESENTATIVES'  HALL. 

those  who  have  held  places  here,  few  if  any,  in 
later  years,  exceed  the  term  of  service  of  John  I. 
Baker,  long  known  as  the  blue-eyed  philosopher 
of  Beverly,  and  who,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two,  his 
newly  formed  city,  by  a  unanimous  vote,  makes 
her  first  mayor,  by  such  action  honoring  herself 
no  less  than  her  aged  citizen.  As  a  member  of 
the  Harbor  and  Land  Commission  he  still  renders 
the  State  valuable  service.  His  first  year  was 
1840,  his  last  1884;  and  between  them  he  sat 
eighteen  years  in  this  chamber. 

When  he  came  hither,  this  room  was  unchanged 
from  the  shape  given  it  by  the  builders,  with  the 
possible  addition  of  balcony  galleries  on  each  side. 
Then  light  came  in  at  the  north  windows  and  from 
the  south;  it  streamed  in  through  right-angled 
spaces  where  is  now  the  special  gallery.  The 
two  corners  at  the  south  had  their  fireplaces,  as 
of  yore,  and  daily  consumed  great  quantities  of 
wood.  They  admitted  of  good  ventilation,  but 
real  warmth  was  to  be  had  only  by  heated  discus- 
sions, which  we  have  reason  to  believe  were  not 
often  wanting.  Here  in  the  opposite  corners  were, 
at  a  slight  elevation,  private  boxes,  where  the 
favored  visitors  might  witness  the  contests  in  the 


Oreb  F.   Mitchell. 

Sergeant-at-Arms,    1875  —  1885. 


Robert  C.  Winthrop. 

Born  May  12,    1809;   died  Nov.  16,    1894. 
Speaker,  1838  — 1840. 


ADDRESS  BY  ALFRED  S.  ROE.  33 

arena.  Instead  of  the  chairs  known  to  us  of  a 
later  date,  were  fixed  settees  extending  across  the 
hall,  with  certain  passageways.  The  clerk's  desk 
was  in  front  of  that  of  the  speaker,  and  the  large 
area  in  front  was  filled  with  movable  settees  for 
the  accommodation  of  members.  The  latter  were 
so  numerous  that  they  filled  the  entire  floor,  both 
galleries,  and,  for  their  further  convenience,  bal- 
conies had  been  constructed  on  each  side,  afford- 
ing seats  for  sixteen  men  in  each  one.  Mr.  Baker 
says  that,  as  the  names  of  Texas  and  Oregon  were 
often  heard  in  those  days,  by  some  queer  combi- 
nation the  west  gallery  was  called  Oregon;  the 
east,  Texas ;  and  so  dignified  a  presiding  officer  as 
Robert  C.  Winthrop  would  address  men  in  these 
places  as  the  member  in  Texas,  or  the  other  place, 
as  it  happened.  From  the  light  afforded  in  the 
evening  by  tallow  dips,  through  the  period  of  gas 
to  the  present  system  of  electricity,  the  progress 
has  been  marked  and  desirable.  There  was  no 
chandelier  till  the  introduction  of  electricity.  For 
many  years  the  House  got  along  well  enough  with 
only  one  clock,  that  facing  the  speaker;  but  it 
remained  for  Representative  Daniels  of  Oxford, 
1877,  who  sat  too  far  back  to  derive  any  good 


34  THE  OLD  REPRESENTATIVES'  HALL. 

from  the  clock,  to  introduce  an  order  that  a  time- 
piece be  placed  behind  the  speaker  and  in  front 
of  the  members,  a  proposition  at  which  all  laughed 
and  for  which  a  majority  voted,  and  then,  when 
its  convenience  was  discovered,  wondered  that  no 
one  had  thought  of  it  before.  In  those  days, 
the  entrances  to  this  hall  were  near  the  fireplaces 
towards  the  south,  instead  of  being  in  the  middle 
of  each  side,  as  now. 

The  renovation  and  additions  of  1853  very  sen- 
sibly changed  the  conditions  here.  The  large 
Bryant  addition  on  the  north  closed  the  lower 
windows  on  that  side,  but  gave  light  through 
higher  ones,  and  at  the  same  time  provided  excel- 
lent places  for  the  reporters,  who  before  that  had 
been  huddled  down  by  the  speaker's  side.  On  the 
south  there  was  an  extension  under  the  balcony, 
affording  the  much-used  passageway  and  the  gal- 
lery above,  the  lower  convenience,  especially,  being 
one  that  the  smokers  of  the  Legislature  could 
hardly  spare,  though  its  very  existence  may  have 
given  origin  to  the  local  name  of  "Murderers 
Eow,"  long  applied  to  the  last  range  of  seats  at 
the    south.     Changes  having  been  begun,  subse- 


John   G.   B.   Adams. 

Sergeant-at-Arms,  1886  — 


ADDRESS  BY  ALFRED   S.  ROE.  35 

quent  ones  were  effected  the  more  easily;  and 
in  1866  a  very  complete  overhauling  was  had, 
in  which  the  balconies  disappeared,  likewise  the 
fireplaces  and  the  settees,  heat  being  afforded  by 
a  system  of  furnaces.  Though  Architect  Wm. 
"Washburn  was  much  criticised  by  the  press  and 
people  for  what  he  did  and  for  what  he  did  not 
do,  he  says,  in  his  report,  "The  ventilation  of  the 
Representatives'  Hall  is  perhaps  the  most  com- 
plete success  ever  accomplished  in  this  country," 
—  an  opinion  and  statement  which  seem  quite 
amusing  when  placed  side  by  side  with  the  many 
criticisms  heard  in  recent  years. 

So  much  for  the  material  changes.  Men  have 
come  and  gone.  They  have  here  played  their 
brief  parts  and  have  been  crowded  off.  Few 
men  have  achieved  political  distinction  in  this 
Commonwealth  without  having  been,  at  some 
time,  connected  with  this  House.  Daniel  Web- 
ster was  a  member  in  1822,  but  he  did  not  come 
in  till  the  second  day,  and  had  to  be  sworn  by 
himself.  He  was  not  a  member  of  any  commit- 
tee, and  the  journal  has  his  name  only  once,  and 
then  as  one  of  a  special  committee  to  report  at  the 


36  THE  OLD  REPRESENTATIVES'  HALL. 

winter  session  a  system  of  rnles.  I  cannot  find 
that  he  ever  reported.1  It  should  be  stated,  in  the 
matter  of  committees,  that  in  the  early  days  there 
were  only  eleven  joint  standing  ones,  and  of  the 
House  there  were  eight.  This  was  the  case  in 
Webster's  day.  In  1835,  John  Gr.  Whittier  had 
a  seat  here  from  Haverhill,  and  he  was  re-elected 
in  1836,  but  illness  prevented  his  taking  his  place. 
The  father  of  Senator  Hoar,  Samuel  Hoar  of 
Concord,  after  his  term  in  Congress  was  a  mem- 
ber, and  was  instrumental  in  saving  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  Harvard  College.  The  Sena- 
tor himself  was  here  in  1852.  Noah  Webster, 
the  famous  maker  of  the  dictionary,  represented 
Amherst  for  three  years,  when  the  century  was 
in  its  teens. 

At  the  clerk's  desk  for  twelve  years,  or  from 
1832  to  1843,  sat  Luther  S.  Cushing,  whose 
manual  on  parliamentary  usage  has  been  the 
school-boy's  Bible  for  more  than  fifty  years. 
As  a  gentleman  has  remarked,  the  Legislature 
has  had  the  man  who  made  the   dictionary  and 

i  In  fairness  to  Mr.  Webster,  it  should  be  stated  that,  having  been  elected 
to  Congress  in  the  autumn  of  1822,  it  is  possible  that  he  did  not  feel  obligated 
to  give  any  of  his  subsequent  time  to  the  Legislature. 


Luther  S.   Cushing. 

Born  June  22,  1803 ;  died  June  22,  1856. 
Clerk,   1832  —  1843. 


ADDRESS  BY  ALFRED   S.  ROE.  37 

the  one  who  made  the  manual,  so  that  there 
seems  to  be  lacking  only  the  maker  of  the  Bible. 
Fifteen  others x  link  1798  with  1883,  when  Edward 
A.  McLaughlin  became  our  efficient  clerk. 

From  Bobbins  to  Meyer,  forty-three  men2  have 
occupied  the  speaker's  chair.  Of  these,  the  long- 
est consecutive  holding  in  this  chamber  was  by 
William  B.  Calhoun  of  Springfield,  seven  years; 
though    Timothy    Bigelow,   representing    Groton 

1  In  this  number  should  be  mentioned  the  names  of  William  Schouler,  1853, 
who  was  adjutant-general  during  the  war  period,  and  who  wrote  the  standard 
"  History  of  Massachusetts  in  the  Rebellion ; "  William  S.  Robinson,  1862-1872, 
whose  caustic  pen  as  correspondent  of  the  "  Springfield  Republican,"  while  it 
brought  him  fame,  also  made  him  hosts  of  enemies ;  Charles  H.  Taylor,  1873, 
long  manager  of  the  "Boston  Globe;"  George  A.  Marden,  1874-1882,  only  a 
year  since  retiring  from  the  five  years  treasurership  of  the  State.  The  first  clerk 
to  serve  here  was  Henry  Warren,  youngest  son  of  Gen.  James  and  Mercy  Otis 
Warren.  He  was  born  in  Plymouth,  1764,  and  died  in  that  town,  1828.  His 
father  had  been  speaker,  1787-1788,  and  his  own  service  as  clerk  of  the  House 
extended  from  1792  to  1802.  During  Shays's  Rebellion  he  served  upon  the  staff 
of  Maj.  Gen.  Benjamin  Lincoln  with  the  rank  of  major,  a  title  by  which  he  was 
known  in  local  circles.  He  was  for  many  years  collector  of  the  port  of  Plym- 
outh, and  was  the  grandfather  of  Winslow  Warren,  at  present  collector  of  the 
port  of  Boston.  It  was  voted  by  the  General  Court  to  place  in  this  book  a  picture 
of  Major  Warren,  but  diligent  search  among  his  descendants  fails  to  reveal  any 
trace  of  a  portrait  in  existence. 

2  The  list  is  an  honorable  one,  including  the  names  of  Harrison  Gray  Otis, 
Joseph  Story,  Josiah  Quincy,  Levi  Lincoln,  Charles  Hale,  Alexander  H.  Bullock, 
Harvey  Jewell,  John  E.  Sanford,  John  D.  Long  and  John  Q.  A.  Brackett.  The 
senior  surviving  speaker  is  Daniel  C.  Eddy,  who,  a  Baptist  clergyman  of 
Lowell,  presided  over  the  so-called  Know  Nothing  House  of  1855.  He  now 
resides  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  Two  of  our  most  distinguished  speakers,  Robert  C. 
Winthrop  and  Nathaniel  P.  Banks,  Jr.,  became  equally  noted  presiding  officers 
over  the  National  House  of  Representatives,  and  both  died  in  the  fall  of  1894. 


38  THE  OLD  REPRESENTATIVES'  HALL. 

and  Boston,  twenty  years  in  all,  between  1790  and 
1821,  was  at  different  periods  speaker  eleven  years. 
Famous  men  have  been  received  in  this  hall. 
What  a  royal  welcome  was  extended  in  1817  to 
James  Monroe,  who,  the  president  of  the  country, 
had  been  a  valiant  soldier  during  the  Revolution. 
How  the  banquet  in  Doric  Hall  must  have  made 
the  arches  ring  with  the  plaudits  of  those  who 
greeted  him !  June  24,  1833,  came  Andrew  Jack- 
son, with  his  cabinet,  including  the  subsequent 
president,  Martin  Van  Buren;  and,  though  it  was 
in  the  recess  of  the  Legislature,  there  was  no 
lacking  in  the  reception  accorded  to  Old  Hickory. 
This  time  the  party  was  refreshed  in  the  Senate 
chamber.  John  Tyler  and  his  cabinet  were  here 
in  1843,  June  17.  In  1847  came  James  K.  Polk, 
June  30,  and  with  him  a  man  to  be  elected  to  the 
presidency  in  1856,  James  Buchanan.  Millard 
Fillmore  was  here  in  1848,  October,  the  fall  of 
his  vice-presidential  canvass.  Grant  and  his  cab- 
inet were  greeted  April  17,  1875.  It  was  in  1867, 
June  24,  that  Andrew  Johnson  and  his  party  came 
hither.  Alexander  H.  Bullock  was  governor,  and 
in  his  elegant  manner  he  welcomed  the  not  over- 
popular  President,  an  act  which  a  wit  of  the  day 


REPRESENTATIVES'    HALL-  January,  1856. 
(Looking  South.) 

Charles  A.   Phelps,  Speaker. 


ADDRESS   BY  ALFRED     S.   ROE.  39 

called  "  wrestling  back  hold  with  all  the  gov- 
ernor's principles ; "  but  when  he  addressed  Sec- 
retary Seward  there  was  no  conflict  of  duty  and 
sentiment.  To  Mr.  Seward  the  governor  said, 
"Massachusetts  has  repeatedly  expressed  to  you 
her  love  and  admiration."  To  which  the  great 
war  secretary  replied,  beginning,  "  I  derived  my 
first  lesson  in  human  rights  from  Massachusetts. 
...  It  was  from  the  lips  of  John  Quincy  Adams 
that  those  words  came."  The  "  Advertiser,"  com- 
menting on  this  reception,  said  that  the  people 
were  courteous  but  not  enthusiastic. 

Nor  have  our  visitors  been  confined  to  national 
officers.  Black  Hawk  and  Keokuk  with  their 
tawny  faces  were  here  received  Oct.  30,  1837, 
and  Black  Hawk  replied  to  the  party  who  ad- 
dressed him;  March  20,  1868,  came  Kit  Carson 
with  a   band  of  Utes;    and  Davy  Crockett1  was 

1  In  his  "  Tour  to  the  North  and  Down  East,"  Colonel  Crockett  says  (pages 
76,  77)  :  "  From  the  top  of  the  State  House  I  had  a  fine  view  of  the  city,  and 
was  quite  amused  to  see  the  representation  of  a  large  codfish  hung  up  in  the 
House  of  Assembly,  or  General  Court,  as  they  call  it,  to  remind  them,  either 
that  they  depended  a  good  deal  on  it  for  food,  or  made  money  by  the  fisheries. 
This  is  quite  natural  to  me,  for  at  home  I  have  at  one  end  of  my  house  the 
antlers  of  a  noble  buck  and  the  heavy  paws  of  a  bear.  ...  I  return  ihe  officers 
in  the  State  House  my  thanks  for  their  civility.  I  can't  remember  all  their 
names,  and  therefore  I  won't  name  any  of  them."  This  entry  was  for  May 
6, 1834,  less  than  two  years  before  he  won  death  and  immortality  in  defending 
the  Alamo. 


40  THE  OLD  REPRESENTATIVES'  HALL. 

here  May  6,  1834.  Twice  were  honors  paid  to 
Lafayette,1  and  here  were  heard  the  eloquent 
words  of  Kossuth.2  The  Prince  of  "Wales3  has 
reason  to  remember  the  appearance  of  this  cham- 
ber, as  has  also  the  Grand  Duke  Alexis;4  but 
the  line  is  endless.5 

"  Except  the  Lord  build  the  house  they  labor 
in  vain  that  build  it."     On  the  4th  of  July,  1795, 

1  On  the  26th  of  August,  1824,  by  a  vote  of  the  Legislature,  passed  in 
expectation  of  the  hero's  coming,  Lafayette  received  the  citizens  of  Massachu- 
setts in  Doric  Hall.  It  is  said  that  on  this  occasion  the  national  standard  for 
the  first  time  was  displayed  from  the  cupola.  June  16,  1825,  he  was  again 
received  in  the  Representative  chamber,  Gov.  Levi  Lincoln  in  the  speaker's 
chair.  This  was  the  day  before  the  corner-stone  laying  at  Bunker  Hill,  and 
Webster's  immortal  speech. 

2  Kossuth  was  received  at  the  State  House,  April  27,  1852;  and  again,  the 
next  day,  passing  under  an  arch  bearing  the  inscription,  "  There  is  a  com- 
munity in  mankind's  destiny,"  he  met  both  branches  of  the  Legislature  in  the 
Representative  chamber,  Governor  Boutwell  presiding,  Henry  Wilson  being 
president  of  the  Senate  and  Nathaniel  P.  Banks,  Jr.,  speaker  of  the  House. 

3  Albert  Edward,  Prince  of  Wales,  Oct.  18,  1860. 

4  Grand  Duke  Alexis  of  Russia,  Dec.  8,  1871. 

5  On  the  10th  of  May,  1894,  the  Legislature  greeted  Frederick  Douglass. 
In  a  happy  manner  he  responded,  and  referred  to  his  first  appearance  in  the 
hall,  more  than  fifty  years  before.  In  a  letter  bearing  date  Feb.  8,  1895,  Mr. 
Douglass  said  he  could  not  give  exact  date,  but  was  sure  it  was  in  1842.  Ref- 
erence to  the  files  of  the  "  Liberator  "  brings  out  this  statement  for  the  even- 
ing of  Jan.  27,  1842:  "It  was  by  far  the  largest  annual  meeting  ever  held  by 
the  society.  [The  Massachusetts  Anti-slavery.]  Every  spot  in  the  hall  was 
densely  filled,  and  apparently  all  present  not  members  were  friends."  Among 
the  speakers  was  "  Frederick  Douglass,  a  fugitive  from  slavery."  The  fore- 
going refers  to  the  adjourned  meeting  from  Faneuil  Hall  to  this  chamber,  leave 
having  been  granted  by  the  House. 


• 


William  S.  Robinson. 

Born  Dec.  7,   1818;  died  March  11,   1876. 
Clerk,  1862  — 1872. 


•  4      c        ■ 
0    *     «        « 


ADDRESS  BY  ALFRED   S.   ROE.  41 

the  voice  of  Peter  Thatcher  was  heard  invoking 
the  Divine  blessing  on  the  enterprise  of  a  new 
State  House,  then  advanced  to  the  corner-stone 
laying.  From  the  old  State  House,  the  members 
of  the  government  with  the  selectmen  of  Boston 
and  Masonic  bodies  had  marched  to  the  Old 
South  Church,  and  there  had  heard  an  address 
by  George  Blake,  thence  through  Milk  Street 
and  Liberty  Square  they  had  returned  to  State 
and  so  to  the  Old  State  House  again,  whence, 
under  the  escort  of  the  Independent  Fusileers, 
they  had  proceeded  along  Main  Street  to  Winter 
and  so  to  and  across  the  Common  to  Governor 
Hancock's  Pasture,  where  fifteen  white  horses, 
representing  the  States  of  the  Union,  had  drawn 
the  corner-stone.  It  is  said  that  where  are  now 
Hancock,  Myrtle  and  Mt.  Vernon  streets,  there 
was  only  a  dreary,  dismal  waste,  and  there  were 
but  three  decent  houses.  Boston  had  but  twenty- 
five  thousand  inhabitants,  all  told,  and  Massa- 
chusetts, Maine  included,  numbered  only  three 
hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand.  But  their 
new  enterprise  was  well  thought  out,  and  the 
man  who  was  then  governor  was  one  of  the  most 


42  THE  OLD  REPRESENTATIVES'  HALL. 

noted  figures  in  the  national  annals;  and  these 
were  the  words  of  Samuel  Adams,  as  with  Paul 
Revere  he  lays  the  stone :  — 

Fellow  Citizens  :  —  The  Representatives  of 
the  people,  in  General  Court  assembled,  did  sol- 
emnly resolve  that  an  edifice  be  erected  upon  this 
spot  of  ground  for  the  purpose  of  holding  the 
public  councils  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massa- 
chusetts. By  the  request  of  their  agents  and 
commissioners  I  do  now  lay  the  corner-stone. 

May  the  superstructure  be  raised  even  to  the 
top  stone  without  any  untoward  accident,  and 
remain  permanent  as  the  everlasting  mountains. 
May  the  principles  of  our  excellent  Constitution, 
founded  in  nature  and  in  the  rights  of  man,  be 
ably  defended  here.  And  may  the  same  princi- 
ples be  deeply  engraven  on  the  hearts  of  all  citi- 
zens, and  there  be  fixed  unimpaired  and  in  full 
vigor  till  time  shall  be  no  more. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  year  which 
marked  the  first  move  towards  a  new  State  House 
was  the  one  in  which  by  legislative  enactment  the 
American  dollar  supplanted  the  British  pound, 
though  the  appropriation  for  the  new  edifice  was 
in  the  old  style.  This  year  also  a  petition  was 
presented  asking  for  the  setting  off  of  the  district 
of   Maine  as  an  independent  State,  —  a  measure 


Edward  Hutchinson  Robbins. 

Born  Feb.  19,  1758;  died  Dec.  29,  1829. 
Speaker,  1793  —  1802.     Member  of  Building  Commission. 


ADDRESS  BY  ALFRED  S.  ROE.  43 

that  did  not  succeed  till  1820.  How  nearly  two 
hundred  men  could  find  room  in  the  old  Repre- 
sentatives' Hall  on  State  Street  is  a  never-failing 
source  of  wonder  to  all  who  visit  that  ancient 
and  venerated  room.  With,  the  troubles  incident 
to  the  Revolution  well  in  the  background  the 
legislators,  with  a  purpose  of  bettering  their  con- 
dition, acted  as  follows :  — 

RESOLVE    FOR    BUILDING    A    NEW    STATE    HOUSE. 
February    16,    1795. 

Besolved,  That  Edward  H.  Bobbins,  Esq., 
Thomas  Dawes,  Esq.,  and  Mr.  Charles  Bulfinch, 
be  and  they  are  hereby  appointed  agents  on  the 
part  of  the  Commonwealth;  and  they,  or  the  major 
part  of  them,  are  hereby  fully  authorized  and 
empowered  to  erect,  build  and  finish  a  new  State 
House  for  the  accommodation  of  all  the  legislative 
and  executive  branches  of  government,  on  a  spot 
of  ground  in  Boston  commonly  called  the  Gov- 
ernor's Pasture,  containing  about  two  acres,  more 
or  less,  adjoining  the  late  Governor  Hancock's 
garden,  and  belonging  to  the  heirs  of  said  Gov- 
ernor Hancock :  provided,  the  town  of  Boston  will, 
at  their  expense,  purchase  and  cause  the  same  to 
be  conveyed  in  fee-simple  to  the  Commonwealth; 
that  appearing  the  most  preferable  spot  for  that 
purpose,  on  such  plan  and  model  as  said  agents, 


44  THE   OLD  REPRESENTATIVES'  HALL. 

with  the  approbation  of  the  committee  hereinafter 
named,  or  the  major  part  of  them,  shall  adopt. 

And  be  it  further  Resolved,  That  the  sum  of 
eight  thousand  pounds  be,  and  the  same  hereby 
is  granted,  to  be  paid  out  of  the  treasury  of  the 
Commonwealth  to  said  agents  by  warrant  from  the 
Governor,  by  and  with  the  advice  of  Council,  for 
the  purpose  aforesaid;  they  to  be  accountable  to 
the  Commonwealth  for  the  same,  on  the  settlement 
of  their  accounts  for  the  expenditures  on  said 
building,  or  at  any  other  time  when  called  upon 
by  the  General  Court. 

The  gentlemen  to  whom  was  intrusted  the  task 
of  designing  and  building  executed  their  work 
from  beginning  to  end  with  not  a  whisper  of 
reproach;  and,  in  passing,  a  glance  at  these  old- 
time  worthies  is  not  out  of  place.  Edward 
Hutchinson  Bobbins  of  Milton  was  a  man  whose 
word  for  nearly  or  quite  half  a  century  was  law 
to  all  his  fellow  townsmen.  From  attaining  his 
majority  till  his  death  there  was  little  time  when 
he  was  not  filling  some  position  of  public  trust. 
Nine  years  in  all,  or  four  in  the  old  and  five  in 
this  chamber,  he  was  speaker;  from  1802  to  1806 
he  was  lieutenant-governor;  thus  gaining  the  title 
by  which  most  Milton  people  knew  him.  From 
his  estate  in  the  town  of  Calais,  Me.,  near  Lake 


Thomas  Dawes. 

Born  Aug.  5,  1731 ;  died  Jan.  2,  1809. 
Member  of  Building  Commission. 


ADDRESS  BY  ALFRED  S.  ROE.  45 

"West  Maguerrawock,  pretty  close  to  the  king's 
dominions,  were  obtained  the  large  timbers  that 
became  the  columns  in  front  and  rear  of  the  new 
State  House  and  in  Doric  Hall.  It  is  worthy 
of  note  that  we  pass  on,  almost  a  hundred  years, 
from  Bobbins  the  builder  to  that  other  Robbing1 
who,  as  last  year's  chairman  of  the  committee  on 
the  State  House,  waged  here  his  battle  royal  for 
its  preservation. 

Thomas  Dawes  had  experienced  the  full  meas- 
ure of  British  hate;  his  house  had  been  sacked 
during  the  foreign  occupancy  of  Boston,  and  by 
the  enemy  he  was  called  "Jonathan  Smoothing 
Plane."  He  had  been  a  member  of  the  conven- 
tion of  1780,  but  his  addition  to  this  commission 
was  on  account  of  his  practical  experience  as  a 
builder.  In  1800,  owing  to  the  deaths  of  Gov- 
ernor Sumner  and  Lieutenant-Governor  Gill,  Mr. 
Dawes,  then  president  of  the  council,  became 
acting  governor.  He  was  made  a  deacon  in 
the  Old  South  Church  in  1786,  and  so  contin- 
ued till  his  death  in  1809.  His  body  lies  in 
King's    Chapel   burying   ground. 


1  Royal  Robbins,  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  from  the  Eleventh 
Suffolk  District,  1893-1894. 


46  THE  OLD  REPRESENTATIVES'  HALL. 

As  for  Charles  Bulfinch,  in  the  language  of 
that  famous  epitaph  of  Sir  Christopher  Wren, 
who  designed  St.  Paul's  Church,  "  If  you  seek 
his   monument,   look   around." 

Such  were  the  men  who  reared  these  walls, 
and  in  the  intervening  years  no  words  of  criti- 
cism have  been  uttered  over  their  work.  They 
builded  for  the  century,  and  now  at  its  end  we 
look  back  along  the  way,  passing  in  review  some 
of  the  scenes  of  which  this  chamber  was  the 
theatre.  Every  Massachusetts  signer  of  the  Dec- 
laration of  Independence  save  Hancock  must  have 
seen  this  interior;  some  of  the  events  here  wit- 
nessed were  thrilling  in  their  interest.  Robert 
Treat  Paine  was  a  member  of  the  council  in 
1804,  and  so  repeatedly  entered  here.  Elbridge 
Gerry,  as  governor  in  1810-1812,  took  his  oath 
of  office  in  this  room.  While  we  may  have  no 
record  of  Samuel  Adams  in  the  chamber  itself, 
we  well  know  his  early  part  in  building,  and 
we  know  that  at  the  State  House,  Oct.  6,  1803, 
was  formed  the  procession  which  escorted  his  re- 
mains to  their  final  resting  place  in  the  Granary 
Burial  Ground.  Most  impressive  of  all  was  when, 
bowed  with  his  four-score   and   Bye  years,  John 


ADDRESS  BY  ALFRED   S.  ROE.  47 

Adams  came  hither  to  take  his  seat  as  a  member 
of  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1820.  Con- 
scious of  his  infirmities,  he  had  declined  the  high 
honor  of  presiding  officer  to  which  the  delegates 
had  elected  him,  but  to  a .  man  those  delegates 
of  seventy-five  years  ago  rose  and  with  uncov- 
ered heads  saluted  the  foremost  citizen  of  Mas- 
sachusetts as  he  was  escorted  to  his  permanent 
seat  at  the  right  of  the  president.  Though  he 
was  not  a  frequent  speaker  in  that  body,  yet  his 
voice  and  vote  are  on  record,  and  they  make  a 
part  of  the  chain  linking  us  with  that  past  of 
which  the  Adamses,  Hancock,  Otis  and  Revere 
were  so  considerable  a  part.  Still  closer  binding 
us  to  the  history  that  we  venerate,  in  this  room, 
Feb.  8,  1800,  Fisher  Ames  gave  his  eulogy  on 
Washington,  a  task  for  which  he  was  peculiarly 
well  fitted,  having  given  the  address  to  Congress 
when  Washington  retired  from  the  presidency. 
And  in  later  days  there  were  giants  who  wrestled 
here.  Daniel  Webster  had  been  a  citizen  of  this 
Commonwealth  only  four  years  when  he  was  sent, 
in  1820,  to  assist  in  revising  the  Constitution. 
Here,  as  everywhere,  his  voice  was  potent,  and 
in  the  light  of  the  events  of  to-day  it  is  a  pleas- 


48  THE  OLD  REPRESENTATIVES'  HALL. 

ure  to  find  that  he  uttered  this  protest  against 
vast  accumulations  of  wealth :  "  The  history  of 
other  nations  may  teach  us  how  favorable  to  pub- 
lic liberty  is  the  division  of  the  soil  into  small 
freeholds;  and  a  system  of  laws  of  which  the 
tendency  is  without  violence  or  injustice  to  pro- 
duce and  to  preserve  a  degree  of  equality  of 
property.  .  .  .  The  freest  government,  if  it  could 
exist,  would  not  long  be  acceptable  if  the  ten- 
dency of  the  laws  were  to  create  a  rapid  accumu- 
lation of  property  in  a  few  hands  and  to  render 
the  great  mass  of  the  population  dependent  and 
penniless."  In  1888,  from  the  14th  to  the  19th 
of  July,  Ex-President  Hayes  presided  in  this 
hall,  with  all  the  grace  so  characteristic  of  him, 
over  the  sessions  of  the  Prison  Congress,  and  in 
his  address  uttered  words  which  should  link  his 
name  with  those  of  John  Howard  and  Dorothea 
Dix:  "But  the  citizen  cannot  be  loyal  to  his 
country  and  faithful  to  her  true  significance  if  he 
neglects  the  children  of  misfortune,  of  poverty,  of 
weakness  and  of  wickedness,  who  are,  or  who  are 
in  danger  of  being,  enrolled  in  the  ranks  of  crime. 
From  the  earliest  dawn  of  human  life  it  has  been 


ADDRESS  BY  ALFRED   S.  ROE.  49 

an  irrepealable  condition  of  its  existence  that  all 
men  are  indeed  their  brothers'  keepers," 

The  year  1858  beheld  here  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  events  in  our  history.  Prompted  by 
Garrison,  Phillips  and  others  of  the  anti-slavery 
leaders,  the  Legislature  projected  the  removal 
of  Edward  Greeley  Loring,  judge  of  probate  in 
Suffolk  County,  for  alleged  malfeasance  in  the 
rendition  of  Anthony  Burns.  Caleb  dishing, 
dividing  the  leadership  of  the  Massachusetts  bar 
with  Rufus  Choate,  defended  the  accused  in  a 
manner  worthy  of  his  experience  and  name.  It 
was  the  first  and  only  year  of  John  A.  Andrew 
in  the  Legislature.  A  confessed  abolitionist,  his 
reputation  up  to  that  time  was  purely  local,  but 
so  determined,  so  masterly  was  his  action  that 
the  obnoxious  officer  was  removed,  and  the  work 
of  the  Representative  made  him  the  successor  of 
Nathaniel  P.  Banks,  Jr.,  in  the  gubernatorial  chair.1 

It  was  near  the  close  of  the  session  of  1885 
that  the  very  depths  were  stirred  over  the  Boston 


1  Among  those  who  struggled  with  Andrew  for  what  he  considered  good 
government  was  Geo.  D.  Wells,  a  young  lawyer  from  Greenfield,  who  fell  Oct. 
13,  1864,  colonel  of  the  Thirty-fourth  Massachusetts,  at  Stickney  Farm,  Va., 
a  prelude  to  the  battle  of  Cedar  Creek.  Many  others  who  here  helped  make 
laws,  later  went  forth  to  defend  them. 


50  THE  OLD  REPRESENTATIVES'  HALL. 

police  bill.  Victors  and  vanquished  fought  long 
and  well.  All  the  devices  possible  to  skilled 
parliamentarians  had  only  put  off  the  inevitable 
end.  Confusion  reigned  almost  supreme.  The 
speaker  had  threatened  to  name  recalcitrant  mem- 
bers; they  in  turn  had  invoked  direst  vengeance 
on  any  officer  who  should  lay  violent  hands  upon 
them.  Gavels,  many,  were  broken  in  a  vain  effort 
to  maintain  order,  and  as  a  last  resort  a  carpen- 
ter's hammer  had  been  secured,  to  be  used  should 
the  last  gavel  be  destroyed.  But  Speaker  J.  Q.  A. 
Brackett  held  firmly  to  his  post,  and  with  the  vote 
and  the  disappearance  of  the  beaten  came  peace 
and  order. 

In  this  address  I  have  in  the  main  confined 
myself  to  this  room,  but  were  we  to  go  beyond 
its  bounds,  matters  of  interest  would  be  found  on 
every  hand.1     In  Doric  Hall,  just  beneath  us,  was 

1  "  If  the  dome  were  gilded,  it  is  said  by  those  of  artistic  and  travel-improved 
taste,  it  would  equal  in  beauty  any  public  building  in  Europe.  The  cost  of  such 
improvement  would  be  $5,500.  It  would  last  without  protection  ten  years,  and 
might  be  made  to  stand  for  a  longer  term.  No  other  equivalent  improvement  of 
the  Capitol  could  be  effected  by  so  slight  an  expense."  (Governor  Banks's 
valedictory,  1861.) 

The  resolve  under  which  the  gilding  was  first  done  bears  date  of  June  25,  1874. 
For  painting  the  outside  of  the  State  House  and  for  gilding  the  dome  Cyrus  T. 
Clark  was  paid  $8,209.94.  The  dome  was  re-gilded  in  1888,  at  a  cost  of  $4,758.79; 
the  first  gilding  outlasting  the  governor's  estimate  by  four  years. 


8   X 

5   > 

-  r 

r 


ADDRESS  BY  ALFRED   S.  ROE.  51 

organized  the  first  volunteer  company  in  the  war 
of  the  rebellion,  and  doorkeeper  John  Kinnear, 
over  there,  was  a  member.  How  many  thousands 
of  our  citizens  climbed  the  steps  leading  to  the 
hall  to  look  finally  on  the  faces  of  Sumner  and 
Wilson  when  their  remains  there  lay  in  state? 
How  many  flags  were  in  that  space  or  in  front 
of  the  capitol  intrusted  to  the  care  and  keeping 
of  departing  regiments,  and  on  their  return  this 
same  hall  became  their  final  resting  place?  Rep- 
resentatives from  every  war  waged  by  the  United 
States  have  served  in  this  room,  and  in  the  last 
House  there  were  thirty-four  veterans  of  the  latest 
strife.     In  the  present  body  there  are  thirty-six. 

What  is  to  be  the  fate  of  this  building  and  of 
this  room?  There  are  those  who  exclaim,  "Raze 
it,  raze  it !  "  but  out  from  the  hearts  of  the  masses 
of  our  citizens  comes  the  cry,  "  Save  it,  save  it ! " 
All  sorts  of  imaginary  ills  are  found  in  and  about 
these  walls,  evils  not  dreamed  of  till  their  destruc- 
tion was  sought.  The  same  iconoclastic  spirit, 
extant  a  thousand  years  ago,  would  have  found 
the  pyramids  of  Egypt  not  fireproof  and  Pompey's 
pillar  out  of  plumb.  Destroying  them,  there  had 
been  no  forty  centuries  to  look  down  upon  Kapo- 


52  THE  OLD  REPRESENTATIVES'   HALL. 


leon's  soldiers,  prompting  them  to  prodigies  of 
valor,  nor  had  the  names  of  Frenchmen,  slain 
in  the  siege  of  Alexandria,  been  graven  on  the 
base  of  that  famous  shaft.  We  are  told  that, 
because  the  years  after  the  revolution  to  those 
of  the  rebellion  were  days  of  peace,  there  could 
little  interest  attach  to  these  walls;  but  if  the 
presence  and  spirit  of  Andrew  and  of  those  who 
here  held  their  ground  in  storm  and  sunshine  do 
not  render  these  walls  sacred  for  all  time,  then  let 
us  remember  that  Whittier,  one  of  our  prede- 
cessors, sang  the  praises  of  peace,  saying,  — 

"  Peace  hath  higher  tests  of  manhood 
Than  battles  ever  knew." 

"But  what  shall  we  do  with  it?"  is  the  refrain. 
Let  it  be  the  Massachusetts  forum.  Let  mankind 
hither  come  and  here  discuss  their  grievances,  if 
such  they  be.  Many  of  us  recall  that  day  of  last 
year  when  the  thousands  of  unemployed  surged 
up  from  the  Common,  up  the  stairways  leading 
to  this  room,  and  how  they  beat  upon  these  doors, 
seeking  help  for  their  distresses;  and  we  recall 
how  in  their  spirit  of  violence  they  were  met  by 
the   firm   hand  of  the  governor  and  faced  about 


ADDRESS  BY  ALFRED   S.  ROE.  53 

and  driven  out.  To  be  sure  they  did  later  come 
to  this  very  room  and  here  present  and  plead 
their  cause;  but  suppose  this  chamber,  with  all  its 
mighty  memories,  had  been  open  to  them,  and 
that  in  this  place  they  could  then  have  told  their 
woes,  who  can  say  that  the  effect  would  not  be 
for  good?  If  here  men  should  learn  to  make 
war  no  more,  then  God  be  praised.  What  better 
place  can  be  found,  the  world  over,  where  men 
may  beat  their  swords  into  ploughshares  and 
their  spears  into  pruning  hooks?  In  a  sense  it 
has  already  been  a  forum  for  the  people,  since 
within  this  space  have  rung  out  the  most  elo- 
quent voices  of  the  State  and  nation.  Their 
principles  prevented  Garrison  and  Phillips  being 
members  of  this  body,  but  at  legislative  hearings, 
again  and  again,  have  their  words  been  heard  in 
behalf  of  what  they  deemed  the  truth.  More 
than  fifty  years  since  the  matchless  voice  of  Lucy 
Stone  was  heard  here,  pouring  out  her  heart  for 
the  enfranchisement  of  woman;  and  to  hers  in 
later  years  have  been  joined  those  of  Julia  Ward 
Howe  and  Mary  A.  Livermore,  making  a  peerless 
trio  for  God  and  the  right. 

Annually    more    than    fifty    thousand     people 


54  THE   OLD  REPRESENTATIVES'  HALL. 

climb  the  one  hundred  and  seventy  steps  lead- 
ing to  the  lantern  whence  is  had  the  most 
glorious  view  afforded  by  western  civilization. 
Above  still  shines  the  pine  cone,  a  source  of 
pride  to  the  builders,  calling  to  mind  the  remote 
district  of  Maine,  yet  once  a  distinct  part  of  the 
Commonwealth;  and,  though  many  may  see  in 
it  resemblance  to  other  objects  than  the  cone,  yet 
it  is  dear  to  the  hearts  of  all,  as  cherished  as  to 
the  Englishman  is  the  golden  grasshopper  which 
at  the  pinnacle  of  the  tower  of  London's  Eoyal 
Exchange  has  long  stayed  his  aerial  flight. 

And  to-day  the  last  legislative  act  in  this  cham- 
ber is  had.     The  story  of  a  century  is  told. 

Then,  grand  old  hall,  hallowed  by  the  presence 
and  words  of  thy  many,  many  thousands,  with  all 
thy  memories,  all  thy  glory,  hail  and  farewell! 

Note.  — There  is  a  wide  difference  in  the  quality  of  illus- 
trations in  this  book.  A  half-tone  cannot  be  better  than  the 
picture  from  which  it  is  made.  A  good  photograph  makes  a 
good  engraving.  The  securing  of  the  originals  of  some  of  these 
portraits  was  a  serious  task.  The  faces  of  Governor  Sumner, 
Speaker  Robbins,  Commissioner  Dawes  and  Architect  Bul- 
finch  were  copied  from  illustrations  in  books  belonging  to  the 
State  Library.  Lieutenant-Governor  Gill's  picture  is  from  a 
photograph  belonging  to  his  great-grandson,  F.  W.  Gill  of 


Alfred  S.  Roe. 

Representative,  16th  Worcester  District. 


ADDRESS  BY  ALFRED  S.  ROE.  55 

Boston.  The  orginal  oil  painting  (possibly  a  Stuart)  is  in 
the  possession  of  some  branch  of  the  Boylston  family,  in  which 
the  lieutenant-governor  found  his  second  wife.  Speaker  Banks's 
picture  is  from  a  daguerreotype  made  contemporaneously  by  J.  J. 
Hawes  of  Tremont  Row ;  that  of  Robert  C.  Winthrop  is  also 
from  an  early  source.  Messenger  Kuhn's  face  is  had  from 
a  copy  of  an  oil  painting  in  the  possession  of  the  Sergeant-at- 
Arms.  Speaker  Meyer's  portrait  is  made  from  a  photograph 
of  a  recent  oil  painting  by  Julian  Story.  The  earlier  views 
of  the  Hall  are  from  wood  cuts  in  Gleason's  and  Ballou's 
Pictorials. 

In  conclusion,  it  is  only  fair  that  I  should  acknowledge  my 
obligations  to  State  Librarian  C.  B.  Tillinghast,  whose  sug- 
gestions and  favors  have  contributed  much  to  the  details  of 
this  paper,  and  also  to  the  State  Printers,  whose  care  and  taste 
have  resulted  in  making  this  volume  a  fine  specimen  of  the 
book-maker's  art.  —  A.  S.  R. 


APPENDIX. 


Executive  and  Legislative 
Departments  of  the  Government 

OF    THE 

Commonhraltjr  of  Jlasstttjwsttts. 


1895 


mmm^—mm*m^mmm 


Executive  Department. 


HIS   EXCELiLiEflCV 

Frederic  T.  Greenhalge  of  Lowell, 

GOVE!*J401*. 


His  HOfion 

ROGER    WOLCOTT    OF    BOSTON, 

lilEUTEflRriT   GOVE^HO^- 


COUNCIL 

District    I. 


ZIBR  C.  KEITH 


CYRUS   SRYRGE 


District  II. 


District   III. 

FRRNCIS   H.    RAYMOND       . 


District   IV. 


JOHN   H.   SULLIYHN 


District   V. 


B.   FRRNK   SOUTHWICK       . 

District  VI. 


JOHN  2ft.   HARLOW 


District  VII. 

CHARLES   E.   STEYENS 


District   VIII. 


ALYAN   BARRUS 


of  BrocKtoi\. 
of  Taui\tor\. 
of  Sorqerville. 
of  Bostoi\. 
of  Peabody. 
of  Woburr\. 
of  Ware, 
of  Gosl\er\. 


EXECUTIVE    CliBl^K. 

EDWARD   F.   HAMLIN        .        .        of  Netttoi\. 


Senate 


president. 
HON.    WILLIAM  M.   BUTLER, 


New  Bedford. 


CLERK: 


HENRY   D.    COOUDGE, 


ASSISTANT  CLERK'. 
WILLIAM    H.    SANGER, 


Concord. 


Boston. 


NAME. 


ADDRESS 


DISTR.CT. 


Atherton,  Horace  H., 
Atwood,  Edward  B., 
Bessom,  Eugene  A.,  . 
Bill,  Ledyard,     . 

Blodgett,  Percival,      . 

Bradford,  Edward  S., 
Burns,  George  J., 
Butler,  William  M.,   . 
Corbett,  Joseph  J.,     . 
Darling,  Francis  W., 
Durant,  William  B.,  . 
Foss,  Ether  S.,   . 
Frothingham,  Edward  G., 
Fuller,  Granville  A.,  . 
Gage,  George  L., 


Saugus,  . 
Plymouth, 
Lynn,     . 
Paxton, 

Templeton, 

Springfield, 
Ayer,     . 
New  Bedford, 
Boston,  . 
Hyde  Park, 
Cambridge, 
Lowell,  . 
Haverhill, 
Boston,  . 
Lawrence, 


Fifth  Essex. 

First  Plymouth. 

First  Essex. 

Third  Worcester. 

Worcester  and  ) 
Hampshire,     j 

First  Hampden. 

Fifth  Middlesex. 

Third  Bristol. 

Second  Suffolk. 

First  Norfolk. 

Third  Middlesex. 

SeventhMiddlesex. 

Fourth  Essex. 

Eighth  Suffolk. 

Sixth  Essex. 


62 


APPENDIX. 


Senate  -  concluded. 


NAME. 

ADDRESS. 

DISTRICT. 

Galloupe,  George  A., 

Beverly, 

Second  Essex. 

Gilbride,  Michael  B., 

Boston,  . 

Third  Suffolk. 

Gray,  Robert  S., 

Walpole, 

Second  Norfolk. 

Harvey,  Edwin  B.,    . 

Westborough, 

Second  Worcester. 

Hutchinson,  Isaac  P., 

Boston,  . 

Seventh  Suffolk. 

Lawrence,  George  P., 

North  Adams, 

Berkshire. 

Leach,  James  C, 

Bridgewater, 

Second  Plymouth. 

Maccabe,  Joseph  B.,  . 

Boston,  . 

First  Suffolk. 

Malone,  Dana,    . 

Greenfield,     . 

Franklin. 

McMorrow,  William  H., 

Boston,  . 

Sixth  Suffolk. 

Miller,  Joel  D.,  . 

Leominster,   . 

Fourth  Worcester. 

Morse,  William  A.,    . 

Tisbury, 

Cape. 

Neill,  Joseph  0., 

Fall  River,     . 

Second  Bristol. 

Niles,  James  P., 

Watertown,   . 

Second  Middlesex. 

Perkins,  George  W.,  . 

Somerville,    . 

First  Middlesex. 

Quinn,  John,  Jr., 

Boston,  . 

Fourth  Suffolk. 

Reed,  George  A., 

Framingham, 

Fourth  Middlesex. 

Ripley,  John  B.,         . 

Chester,          .        j 

Berkshire  and  ) 
Hampshire,    j 

Salisbury,  Stephen,    . 

Worcester,     . 

First  Worcester. 

Sanger,  George  P.,     . 

Boston,  . 

Fifth  Suffolk. 

Smith,  Sylvanus, 

Gloucester,    . 

Third  Essex. 

Southard,  Louis  C,    . 

Easton,  . 

First  Bristol. 

Sprague,  Charles  F.,  . 

Boston,  . 

Ninth  Suffolk. 

Wellman,  Arthur  H., 

Maiden, 

Sixth  Middlesex. 

Whitcomb,  Marciene  H., 

Holyoke, 

Second  Hampden. 

APPENDIX. 


63 


House  of  Representatives. 


SPEAKER: 

HON.   GEORGE  v.  L  MEYER, 


Boston. 


CLERK: 


EDWARD  A.   Mc LAUGH LIN, 


Boston. 


ASSISTANT  CLERK: 


JAMES  W.   KIMBALL, 


Lynn. 


NAME. 

DISTRICT. 

ADDRESS. 

Allen,  Daniel  W.,      . 

19,  Essex, 

Lynn. 

Allen,  Romeo  E., 

12,  Worcester 

Shrewsbury. 

Atsatt,  Isaiah  P., 

7,  Plymouth, 

Mattapoisett. 

Austin,  Frederick  E., 

3,  Bristol,     . 

Taunton. 

Bailey,  George  W.,   . 

4,  Berkshire, 

Pittsfield. 

Bailey,  James  A.,  Jr., 

15,  Middlesex, 

Arlington. 

Baker,  Theophilus  B., 

2,  Barnstable, 

Harwich. 

Balch,  Charles  T.,     . 

7,  Essex, 

Groveland. 

Bancroft,  Charles  G., 

13,  Worcester, 

Clinton. 

Bancroft,  Solon, 

14,  Middlesex, 

Reading. 

Barber,  Harding  R., 

1,  Worcester, 

Athol. 

Barker,  Albert  F.,     . 

3,  Plymouth, 

Hanson. 

Barnes,  Erwin  F., 

6,  Berkshire, 

West  Stockbridge. 

Barnes,  Franklin  0., 

26,  Suffolk,    . 

Chelsea. 

64 


APPENDIX. 


House  of  Representatives -continued. 


NAME. 

DISTRICT. 

ADDRESS. 

Barry,  Daniel  J , 

14,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Bates,  John  L., 

1,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Beaman,  Algernon  T., 

4,  Worcester, 

Princeton. 

Bennett,  Frank  S.  *  . 

24,  Middlesex, 

Tyngsborough. 

Bird,  George  B., 

24,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Bliss,  Henry  C, 

2,  Hampden, 

West  Springfield. 

Blodgett,  Benjamin  F., 

5,  Worcester, 

West  Brookfield. 

Bond,  Charles  P., 

18,  Middlesex, 

Waltham. 

Bourne,  Samuel  S.,  . 

8,  Plymouth, 

Middleborough. 

Boutwell,  Harvey  L., 

9,  Middlesex, 

Maiden. 

Bradford,  Fred.  H.,  . 

18,  Middlesex, 

Waltham. 

Bradley,  Manassah  E., 

2,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston.  * 

Brown,  Charles  D.,  . 

10,  Essex, 

Gloucester. 

Brown,  Frederick  A., 

8,  Worcester, 

Webster. 

Bullock,  Benjamin  S., 

10,  Essex, 

Manchester. 

Burges,  William  H., 

2,  Plymouth, 

Kingston. 

Burt,  J.  Marshall, 

9,  Hampden, 

East  Longmeadow. 

Burt,  T.  Preston, 

3,  Bristol,     . 

Taunton. 

Carroll,  Charles  W., 

11,  Worcester, 

Milford. 

Carter,  William, 

9,  Norfolk,  . 

Needham. 

Casey,  Daniel  C, 

20,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Chandler,  Frank, 

16,  Middlesex, 

Belmont. 

Clark,  Luther  W.,     . 

4,  Franklin, 

Deerfield. 

Cochran,  James  A.,  . 

1,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Collins,  Michael  W., 

3,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Cook,  Heman  S., 

3,  Barnstable, 

Province  town. 

Cook,  Gilbert,  f . 

14,  Worcester, 

Lunenburg. 

*  Died  April  10. 


f  Died  February  17. 


APPENDIX. 


65 


House  of  Representatives -continued. 


NAME. 

DISTRICT. 

ADDRESS. 

Creed,  James  F., 

15,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Crane,  Ellery  B..*     . 

21,  Worcester, 

Worcester. 

Dallinger,  Frederick  W., 

2,  Middlesex, 

Cambridge. 

Davis,  William  W.,  . 

21,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Denham,  Thomas  M., 

5,  Bristol,     . 

New  Bedford. 

Dickinson,  David  T., 

1,  Middlesex, 

Cambridge. 

Donahue,  Thomas,    . 

8,  Bristol,     . 

Fall  River. 

Donovan,  Timothy  J., 

4,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Donovan,  William  F., 

8,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Donovan,  William  J., 

2,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Dow,  Harry  R., 

5,  Essex, 

Lawrence. 

Drew,  William  H.,    . 

1,  Plymouth, 

Plymouth. 

Driscoll,  Daniel  M.,  . 

12,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Driscoll,  William  P., 

12,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Drury,  Levi  A., 

3,  Essex, 

Bradford. 

Duddy,  Robert, 

7,  Middlesex, 

Somerville. 

Eddy,  George  M.,     . 

6,  Bristol,     . 

New  Bedford. 

Edgarton,  Henry, 

32,  Middlesex, 

Shirley. 

Edgerton,  Albert  H., 

5,  Worcester, 

Sturbridge. 

Eldredge,  Alpheus  M., 

11,  Plymouth, 

Brockton. 

Estes,  Benjamin  F.,  . 

19,  Essex, 

Lynn. 

Fallon,  Thomas  F.,  . 

19,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Ferson,  Clarentine  E., 

15,  Worcester, 

Fitchburg. 

Fillmore,  Wellington, 

2,  Middlesex, 

Cambridge. 

Fisk,  Henry  H., 

1,  Barnstable, 

Dennis. 

Flint,  James  H., 

5,  Norfolk,  . 

Weymouth. 

Flint,  Silas  W., . 

13,  Middlesex, 

Wakefield. 

Elected  to  succeed  Henry  Y.  Simpson,  deceased. 


66 


APPENDIX. 


House  of  Representatives -continued. 


NAME. 

DISTRICT. 

ADDRESS. 

Flynn,  Joseph  J., 

4,  Essex, 

Lawrence. 

Foote,  William  H.,    . 

2,  Hampden, 

Westfield. 

Ford,  William  E.,     . 

23,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Foss,  Otis, 

1,  Dukes,     . 

Cottage  City. 

Fowle,  George  E.,     . 

14,  Middlesex, 

Woburn. 

French,  Zenas  A., 

6,  Norfolk,  . 

Holbrook. 

Gallivan,  James  A.,  . 

13,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Gardner,  John  J., 

1,  Nantucket, 

Nantucket. 

Gauss,  John  D.  H.,  . 

13,  Essex, 

Salem. 

Gay  lord,  Henry  E.,  . 

3,  Hampshire, 

South  Hadley. 

Geary,  Michael  P.,    . 

13,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

George,  Samuel  W., . 

2,  Essex, 

Haverhill. 

Gillingham,  James  L., 

4,  Bristol,     . 

Fairhaven. 

Goodrich,  Charles  W., 

3,  Berkshire, 

Hinsdale. 

Graham,  William  T., 

5,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Grant,  Alexander,     . 

5,  Hampden, 

Chicopee. 

Gray,  Joshua  S., 

5,  Plymouth, 

Rockland. 

Greenwood,  Abner,  . 

27,  Middlesex, 

Ashland. 

Grover,  Thomas  E.,  . 

4,  Norfolk,  . 

Canton. 

Hale,  Edward  A., 

8,  Essex, 

Newburyport. 

Hammond,  Charles  L.,     . 

5,  Norfolk,  . 

Quincy. 

Hammond,  George,  . 

7,  Worcester, 

Charlton. 

Harlow,  Franklin  P., 

6,  Plymouth, 

Whitman. 

Harrington,  James  L.,*    . 

14,  Worcester, 

Lunenburg. 

Harvey,  Benjamin  C, 

8,  Hampden, 

Springfield. 

Harwood,  Albert  L., 

17,  Middlesex, 

Newton  Centre. 

Hastings,  Samuel,     . 

2,  Franklin, 

Warwick. 

*  Elected  to  succeed  Gilbert  Cook,  deceased. 


APPENDIX. 


67 


House  of  Representatives -continued. 


NAME. 

DISTRICT. 

ADDRESS. 

Hathaway,  Bowers  C, 

12,  Worcester, 

Westborough. 

Hathaway,  Frederic  "W.,  . 

12,  Plymouth, 

Brockton. 

Hawkes,  Wesley  0., 

31,  Middlesex, 

Westford. 

Hayes,  William  H.  I., 

24,  Middlesex, 

Lowell. 

Hibbard,  George  A., . 

18,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Higgins,  Sumner  C, . 

4,  Middlesex, 

Cambridge. 

Hoban,  Thomas  F.,  . 

25,  Middlesex, 

Lowell. 

Holden,  Joshua  B.,   . 

11,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Holland,  Timothy,    . 

19,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Hollis,  J.  Edward,    . 

17,  Middlesex, 

Newton. 

Holt,  E.  Clarence,     . 

3,  Bristol,     . 

Taunton. 

Horan,  John  G., 

15,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Howe,  Louis  P., 

29,  Middlesex, 

Marlborough. 

Humphrey,  Henry  D., 

1,  Norfolk,  . 

Dedham. 

Huse,  Caleb  B., 

8,  Essex, 

Newburyport. 

Hutchinson,  W.  Henry, 

20,  Essex,     . 

Lynn. 

Irwin,  Richard  W.,  . 

1,  Hampshire, 

Northampton. 

Ives,  Dwight  H., 

3,  Hampden, 

Holyoke. 

Jenks,  William  S.,    . 

2,  Berkshire, 

Adams. 

Johnson,  Edward  P., 

18,  Essex, 

Lynn. 

Jones,  George  R., 

11,  Middlesex, 

Melrose. 

Jordan,  Cyrus  A.,     . 

14,  Essex, 

Salem. 

Jourdan,  Benjamin  A., 

10,  Worcester, 

Upton. 

Kaan,  Frank  W., 

6,  Middlesex, 

Somerville. 

Keenan,  James, 

16,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Keenan,  Thomas  F., 

8,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Kellogg,  John  E.,     . 

15,  Worcester, 

Fitchburg. 

68 


APPENDIX. 


House  of  Representatives-continued. 


NAME. 

DISTRICT. 

ADDRESS. 

Kimball,  William  G., 

2,  Hampshire, 

Huntington. 

Kingman,  Francis  M., 

9,  Plymouth, 

East  Bridgewater. 

Knox,  Joseph  B., 

22,  Worcester, 

Worcester. 

Krebbs,  Franz  H.,  Jr., 

17,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Lawrence,  Amos  A., 

4,  Plymouth, 

Cohasset. 

Leach,  George  A.,     . 

28,  Middlesex, 

Wayland. 

Leach,  Osgood  L.,     . 

3,  Franklin, 

Northfield. 

Leach,  Warren  S.,     . 

2,  Bristol,     . 

Raynham. 

Light,  Charles  F., 

3,  Norfolk,  . 

Hyde  Park. 

Lowell,  Francis  C,   . 

11,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Lynch,  John  M., 

4,  Essex, 

Lawrence. 

Macomber,  John  A.,  2d, 

7,  Bristol,     . 

Westport. 

Mann,  Hugo,     . 

5,  Franklin, 

Buckland. 

Marden,  William  H., 

12,  Middlesex, 

Stoneham. 

Mayo,  Samuel  N.,     . 

8,  Middlesex, 

Medford. 

McCarthy,  Jeremiah  J., 

4,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

McMackin,  Bernard, 

7,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Melaven,  James  F.,  . 

20,  Worcester, 

Worcester. 

Mellen,  George  H.,    . 

23,  Worcester, 

Worcester. 

Mellen,  James  H.,     . 

19,  Worcester, 

Worcester. 

Meyer,  George  v.  L., 

9,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Mills,  Charles  E.,      . 

9,  Bristol,     . 

Fall  River. 

Mitchell,  Samuel  H., 

25,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Mooney,  Joseph  F.,  . 

8,  Bristol,     . 

Fall  River. 

Moore,  E.  Lewis, 

28,  Middlesex, 

Framingham. 

Moran,  William, 

8,  Bristol,     . 

Fall  River. 

Moriarty,  Eugene  M., 

18,  Worcester, 

Worcester. 

APPENDIX. 


69 


House  of  Representatives -continued. 


NAME. 

DISTRICT. 

ADDRESS. 

Mulvey,  Mark  B.,     . 

22,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Murphy,  Timothy  F., 

7,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Myers,  James  J., 

1,  Middlesex, 

Cambridge. 

Newell,  Herbert, 

1,  Franklin, 

Shelburne. 

Newell,  Richard, 

1,  Essex, 

West  Newbury. 

Newhall,  George  H., 

17,  Essex, 

Lynn. 

Newhall,  John  B.,     . 

18,  Essex, 

Lynn. 

Norton,  Joseph  J.,    . 

14,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

O'Brien,  Michael  J., 

5,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

O'Connor,  John  J.,    . 

23,  Middlesex, 

Lowell. 

O'Hara,  John  M., 

3,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Osgood,  L.  Edgar,     . 

6,  Essex, 

North  Andover. 

Parker,  Theodore  K., 

2,  Worcester, 

Winchendon. 

Penniman,  George  W., 

10,  Plymouth, 

Brockton. 

Perkins,  Lyman  H.,  . 

6,  Hampden, 

Springfield. 

Phelps,  Carlton  T.,    . 

1,  Berkshire, 

North  Adams. 

Pinkham,  Edward  W., 

17,  Essex, 

Lynn. 

Porter,  Burrill,  Jr.,    . 

1,  Bristol,     . 

No.  Attleborough. 

Porter,  George  W.,    . 

7,  Norfolk,  . 

Avon. 

Porter,  J.  Frank, 

22,  Essex,      . 

Danvers. 

Prevaux,  John  J., 

1,  Essex, 

Amesbury. 

Putnam,  George  E.,  . 

22,  Middlesex, 

Lowell. 

Quint,  Nicolas  M.,     . 

21,  Essex, 

Peabody. 

Quirk,  Charles  I.,      . 

20,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Bice,  Henry  F., 

9,  Worcester, 

Sutton. 

Richardson,  Robert  A., 

3,  Essex, 

Haverhill. 

Roberts,  Ernest  W., 

27,  Suffolk,    . 

Chelsea. 

70 


APPENDIX. 


House  of  Representatives -continued. 


NAME 

DISTRICT. 

ADDRESS. 

Roe,  Alfred  S., . 

16,  Worcester, 

Worcester. 

Root,  Silas  B.,   . 

1,  Hampden, 

Granville. 

Roper,  George  A., 

24,  Middlesex, 

Lowell. 

Ross,  Samuel,    . 

5,  Bristol,     . 

New  Bedford. 

Rourke,  Daniel  D.,   . 

6,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Rourke,  Fred  H., 

21,  Middlesex, 

Lowell. 

Russell,  George  G.,  . 

15,  Essex, 

Salem. 

Ryan,  James  F., 

16,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Ryder,  Martin  F.,     . 

6,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Sargent,  Charles  F.,  . 

5,  Essex, 

Lawrence. 

Scates,  George  M.,     . 

21,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Searls,  William  P.,    . 

17,  Worcester, 

Worcester. 

Shea,  John  T.,  . 

3,  Middlesex, 

Cambridge. 

Sheehan,  John  F., 

4,  Hampden, 

Holyoke. 

Shepherd,  William,  . 

20,  Essex,      . 

Lynn. 

Sibley,  Frank  M.,      . 

5,  Hampshire, 

Ware. 

Sisson,  Henry  D., 

7,  Berkshire, 

New  Marlborough. 

Slade,  David  F., 

9,  Bristol,     . 

Fall  River. 

Sleeper,  George  T.,    . 

27,  Suffolk,    . 

Winthrop. 

Smith,  Albert  C, 

18,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Smith,  Henry  M., 

5,  Berkshire, 

Lee. 

Snow,  George  F., 

20,  Middlesex, 

Chelmsford. 

Southworth,  Amasa  E., 

5,  Middlesex, 

Somerville. 

Spalding,  Warren  F., 

4,  Middlesex, 

Cambridge. 

Spofford,  John  C.,     . 

10,  Middlesex, 

Everett. 

Spring,  Arthur  L.,     . 

10,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Stanley,  Fred  D.,      . 

6,  Bristol,     . 

New  Bedford. 

APPENDIX. 


71 


House  of  Representatives -continued. 


NAME. 

DISTRICT. 

ADDRESS. 

Stevens,  Ezra  A., 

9,  Middlesex, 

Maiden. 

St.  John,  Thomas  E., 

2,  Essex, 

Haverhill. 

Stocker,  Joseph  W., . 

12,  Essex, 

Beverly. 

Stone,  Daniel  D., 

9,  Essex, 

Hamilton. 

Strong,  Homer  0.,     . 

1,  Hampshire, 

Southampton. 

Sturtevant,  Charles  E., 

23,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Tarr,  George  J., 

10,  Essex, 

Gloucester. 

Teamoh,  Robert  T.,  . 

9,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Thacher,  Josiah  P.,  . 

30,  Middlesex, 

Littleton. 

Thurston,  Lyman  D., 

6,  Worcester, 

Leicester. 

Tolman,  William, 

4,  Berkshire, 

Pittsfield. 

Tower,  Henry,  . 

29,  Middlesex, 

Hudson. 

Towte,  William  W., 

17,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Tuite,  Michael, . 

11,  Worcester, 

Blackstone. 

Turner,  Arthur  H.,   . 

13,  Worcester, 

Harvard. 

Turner,  George  W.,* 

6,  Hampden, 

Springfield. 

Tuttle,  John  E., 

24,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

Utley,  Charles  H.,     . 

2,  Norfolk,  . 

Brookline. 

Wadden,  Frank  L.,  . 

16,  Essex, 

Marblehead. 

Waite,  Gilman, . 

2,  Worcester, 

Templeton. 

Wakefield,  Charles  E., 

4,  Hampshire, 

Amherst. 

Wales,  George  A.,     . 

7,  Norfolk,  . 

Stoughton. 

Wallis,  Horace  E.,    . 

10,  Hampden, 

Holland. 

Warriner,  Stephen  C, 

8,  Hampden, 

Springfield. 

Waterman,  George  B., 

1,  Berkshire, 

Williamstown. 

Wentworth,  George  L.,     . 

5,  Norfolk,   . 

Weymouth. 

Weston,  Clarence  P., 

10,  Suffolk,    . 

Boston. 

*  Elected  to  succeed  Joseph  L   Shipley,  deceased. 


72 


APPENDIX. 


House  of  Representatives -concluded. 


NAME. 

DISTRICT. 

ADDRESS. 

Wheaton,  Mark  0.,  . 
Whitaker,  Elbridge  J., 
White,  George  E.,     . 
White,  William  S.,   . 
Wiley,  Albert  L.,      . 
Willard,  Edward  E., 
Wilson,  Edward  HM 
Winn,  John, 
Wood,  Henry  0.,      . 
Woodfall,  J.  Loring, 
Young,  Charles  L.,    . 

1,  Bristol,     . 

8,  Norfolk,  . 

1,  Barnstable, 

8,  Norfolk,  . 

3,  Worcester, 
26,  Suffolk,  . 
26,  Middlesex, 
19,  Middlesex, 

10,  Bristol,    . 

11,  Essex, 

7,  Hampden, 

Attleborough. 

Wrentham. 

Sandwich. 

Foxborough. 

Hardwick. 

Chelsea. 

Natick. 

Woburn. 

Swanzey. 

Rockport. 

Springfield. 

M106550 


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